Queen Camilla Reveals the Secret to Her 20-Year Marriage to King Charles
It turns out Queen Camilla has the secret to a happy marriage—and she's not afraid to share it.
During the third day of her four-day state visit to Italy alongside husband King Charles—which also happened to be the couple's milestone 20th wedding anniversary—Camilla said on April 9 that her secret to a long marriage with the King is 'laughing at the same things,' per The Mirror.
As Charles made history and became the first British monarch to address the Italian parliament, Camilla visited a school in Rome, where she remarked, 'Twenty years, who could believe it was 20 years?'
'What is the secret?' she continued. 'I don't know. Well, I suppose it's just sort of friendship, really. Laughing at the same things, getting on with life. I suppose doing this [alluding to their royal work] takes up most of the time.'
She added—as she was apart from Charles even in that moment—that she and her husband 'are always going in different directions, like ships that pass in the night, really. We whizz past each other. In fact, we have got a bit of a catch up this afternoon!'
The Queen also shared the gift that she had bought the King—but shared that she wouldn't be giving it to him that day, on their actual anniversary. 'Ah, yes, well I have got something,' she said, adding that the gift was China—the traditional gift for a 20-year anniversary.
'We are going to do that when we get back,' she said. 'We are going to save that. Otherwise, you can't really—you have to rush it. You don't have time to say anything. I think we might dig into our pockets and pull something out at the end of the day.'
Camilla also spoke of her love of Italy, sharing that she'd visited 'lots of times' with her family, who previously owned a house in Florence. She joked that she would have enjoyed time with her husband to privately tour some of Italy's sites, but added, 'It would be very nice if we got a day off and went somewhere, but that was not going to happen!'
Of Italy, she added, 'You come to Italy and you feel better. They are so friendly. Everybody is so lovely. You've got the food, the weather, there's something in the air.'
'Everything tastes better,' she continued. 'Why is it tomatoes, why is it pasta tastes better? You take it back to England, and it doesn't taste the same.'
Later that evening, Charles and Camilla were guests of honor at a state banquet hosted by the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinale Palace. The banquet's 150 guests were drawn from Italian and British communities, and they feasted on a menu of bottoni pasta with aubergine caponata, sea bass in salt crust, roast potatoes, fried artichokes, and courgette flowers, with a dessert of Fiordilatte ice cream cake with raspberries, per The Telegraph. The menu was prepared by chef Giorgio Locatelli, and Andrea Bocelli performed for the group assembled.
'Today marks, as you say, the Queen's and my 20th wedding anniversary,' the King said in remarks at the banquet, per Tatler. Gesturing to the opulence surrounding him, he added cheekily, 'On that score, I must say it is really good of you, Mr. President, to lay on this small, romantic, candlelit dinner for two.'
The busy day also saw Charles and Camilla meet privately with Pope Francis, after their public visit was canceled due to the Pope's recovery from a bout of ill health. The meeting lasted roughly 20 minutes, per The Telegraph, and took place at the Vatican; the King and Queen were 'delighted' to see the Pope, a spokesperson for the couple said, and visited him on Wednesday morning.
'The King and Queen were deeply touched by the Pope's kind remarks about their 20th wedding anniversary and honored to be able to share their best wishes with him in person,' a message read.
On April 10, Charles and Camilla embark on their final day in Italy, visiting the city of Ravenna in northeastern Italy, which The Mirror reported is known for its colorful mosaics that adorn many of its buildings.
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