The China Mail - Charles and Camilla mark 20 years of marriage that defied the odds

The couple, who have known each other for over 50 years, will have little time to enjoy their milestone in private.

After a busy day, they will be the guests of honour at a banquet organised as part of their four-day state visit to Italy.

On Monday, the couple released three official anniversary photographs to mark the occasion, taken at the official residence of the UK ambassador to Italy.

In a post on their Instagram account, they wrote: "We are so looking forward to celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in such a special place and with such wonderful people!"

Since February 2024, the 76-year-old king has been undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer.

He spent a brief spell in hospital last month when he suffered side effects related to his treatment.

But the monarch insisted on carrying on with the trip to Italy with Camilla, 77, whom he often calls his "beloved wife".

They are a close-knit couple, of "similar ages, similar friendships", said royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams. "And she's got a similar sense of humour."

"She makes him laugh. That's so pivotal at a time of crisis," he said.

"You can imagine him being a most impatient patient" who is difficult to persuade to drop his workaholic ways.

- 'Obstacles' -

Their marriage, after a long and scandalous affair -- much of which was conducted while Charles was married to Princess Diana -- had to contend with "huge constitutional, political, religious, not to mention familial hurdles that needed to be overcome before they married", Fitzwilliams said.

At the time of their wedding, public opinion was unfavourable. Affection for Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, was still keenly felt.

According to one poll, 70 percent of people were opposed to him marrying the woman Diana had famously dubbed the "rottweiler".

Queen Elizabeth II, Charles's mother, also took time to accept Camilla.

The question of whether a future king could marry a divorced woman had stirred constitutional experts for years.

The then archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, refused the couple a religious marriage amid opposition from Church of England leaders because both were divorced.

Mindful of the sensitivities, the statement announcing the marriage was careful to specify that when Charles became king, Camilla would be known as "princess consort" and not queen.

Queen Elizabeth was not present at the civil wedding on April 9, 2005, at Windsor town hall, attended by around 30 guests including Charles and Diana's two sons, princes William and Harry.

She did, however, attend a blessing at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel and hosted a reception for the bride and groom.

She acknowledged in her toast that her son had overcome "terrible obstacles" to marry the woman he loved.

Charles first met Camilla in the early 1970s and was immediately captivated by the amusing, down-to-earth woman from an affluent family.

- 'Steadfast support' -

A brief romance ensued, which he ended when he joined the Royal Navy.

Camilla, then 25, married another suitor, the dashing army officer Andrew Parker Bowles, in 1973.

In 1981, a 32-year-old Charles married Diana Spencer, 12 years his junior.

Among the guests at the wedding at St Paul's Cathedral were Camilla and Andrew.

Charles and Diana's marriage was a disaster, however, and Charles returned to Camilla's arms after the birth of William and Harry.

Camilla divorced in 1995 while Charles separated from Diana in 1992, divorcing in 1996.

Diana's death and the endless demonisation of Camilla in the tabloids snuffed out any hopes of marriage in the short term.

Desperate to change public perceptions, Charles relied on a publicist to carefully orchestrate their first public appearance together in 1999, and Camilla's first meeting with the queen in 2000.

After their coronation in Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023, Charles paid his second wife a glowing tribute.

"She has been my steadfast support throughout and I am deeply grateful to her," he said.

In a 2022 interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Camilla acknowledged: "We've been through a lot together".

"He's a very, very kind man and he's been through a lot as well... We support each other and that's very important."

B.Carter--ThChM