[imagesource: Getty]
Following the divorce of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1996, four years after they first separated, Camilla Parker-Bowles was one of the most hated women in Britain.
Charles had openly admitted to having an affair in 1994, during an interview reported by The New York Times. For a while, it had been an open secret that Charles and Camilla had been involved during his marriage to Diana, but only started five years in, and was officially made public in 1997.
Diana would later recall a confrontation with Camilla at a party, in an interview on CBS News.
Via ELLE, here’s the exchange as she recalled it:
Diana: “I know what’s going on between you and Charles, and I just want you to know that.”
Camilla: “You’ve got everything you ever wanted. You’ve got all the men in the world [to] fall in love with you and you’ve got two beautiful children, what more do you want?”
Diana: “I want my husband. I’m sorry I’m in the way, and it must be hell for both of you. But I do know what’s going on. Don’t treat me like an idiot.”
It took a while for Charles and Camilla to rebuild their reputations, but by the time that they married in 2005, the public was largely on their side.
Camilla joined the Family, taking the title of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall, in preparation for her future role as queen consort.
Then season four of The Crown came along. The latest season maps Charles’ and Diana’s relationship from its early days until things started to fall apart.
As we’ve mentioned before, the general public has a tough time separating fact from fiction in the show, and as a result, things have started to get tough for the Prince and the Duchess.
NewsAU mapped the change in sentiment via social media.
On November 5, Clarence House posted a new official portrait of the Duchess on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram
Underneath the photo, it received comments like this:
“She’s proved to be a great asset to the firm.” “Beautiful lady. Smiles with her eyes always.” “Amazing, hardworking, passionate person and perfect queen-to-be.” “This lady is an absolute star.” “Magnificent portrait of a splendid woman.”
Two weeks later, after The Crown aired, the Royal Family’s Instagram account posted another picture of the Duchess, smiling as she met with students who had entered the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay competition:
View this post on Instagram
This time, the image was met with comments like this:
“Diana Forever.” “Long live the memory of Princess Diana!” “In a world full of Camillas, be a Diana.” “Diana is still the real MVP.” “Please stop forcing Camilla down our throats.”
That’s a drastic shift.
Charles and Camilla’s own Instagram account has also been flooded with thousands of messages of support for the late Princess Diana.
It should be noted that Diana also had extramarital affairs.
As the public struggles to understand how TV shows work, it can’t be fun for the Prince and Duchess to relive the outcry that they had to navigate when they officially started dating.
Yes, everyone loved Diana, but maybe it’s time to give the hate a rest.
