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Queen Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand on 17 July 1947) is the wife of King Charles III. The Royal Household describes her role as supporting the King in his work and duties, and carrying out public engagements for the charities she supports [1]. This page uses only the information published by the Royal Household on royal.uk.
Family
The Queen was born at King's College Hospital, London, on 17 July 1947, the daughter of Major Bruce Middleton Hope Shand and the Hon Rosalind Maud Shand, daughter of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe [1]. She has a sister, Annabel Elliot; her brother, the conservationist Mark Shand, died in 2014 [1]. The family lived in East Sussex from 1951 [1].
Marriages
The Queen was first married to Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles; the marriage was dissolved in 1995. They have two children, Thomas Henry and Laura Rose, born in 1974 and 1978 [1].
On 9 April 2005 she married Charles, Prince of Wales, in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall, Windsor, followed by a Service of Prayer and Dedication at St George's Chapel and a reception at Windsor Castle hosted by Queen Elizabeth II [1][2]. She was then known as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall [1][2]. Royal.uk notes that she has five grandchildren and five step-grandchildren [1].
Honours
Queen Elizabeth II appointed her a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 2012, a member of the Privy Council in 2016 and a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter in 2022 [1]. Since the change of reign the King has made her a Lady of the Thistle (2023) and Grand Master of the Order of the British Empire (2024) [1].
Charity work
Since her marriage in 2005 the Queen has become Patron or President of more than 100 charities [1]. The Royal Household lists health and well-being, literacy, the arts, animal welfare, and support for survivors of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence among her main themes [1]. She has been President of the Royal Osteoporosis Society since 2001 [1]. In 2016 she took over Queen Elizabeth II's patronages of Barnardo's, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and the Royal School of Needlework, and in 2018 she became patron of the Royal Society of Literature [1]. Royal.uk also records her work through The Queen's Reading Room initiative, which promotes reading [1].
Licence: this article is original GOTHA text, released under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Its sources are summarised or briefly quoted.