Queen Elizabeth II reportedly laid down some very strict rules when it came to King Charles and Queen Camilla’s romance — especially when the couple was staying anywhere near her.
Four years after the late monarch’s death, resurfaced claims reveal Elizabeth allegedly wanted Charles and Camilla to keep their affection firmly under control during royal family gatherings at Balmoral.
According to a source who spoke out in 2000, Charles and Camilla had developed quite a reputation among Britain’s upper crust for their passionate relationship.
“Charles and Camilla are notorious among the aristocrats and upper-class people they mix with for their raucous love play,” the source alleged.
That apparently did not sit well with the famously reserved queen.
Senior palace officials reportedly told the couple there should be “no overt displays of affection” around Elizabeth. And whenever Charles and Camilla spent the night under the same roof, they were allegedly expected to keep the noise down after 11 p.m. unless the royal family was attending a late-night event.
At the time, Charles and Camilla were still several years away from getting married.
The pair first met in the 1970s and later became involved in an on-again, off-again affair while Charles was married to Princess Diana. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, and Diana died in a Paris car crash the following year.
As Charles and Camilla became increasingly open about their relationship, Elizabeth reportedly remained deeply uncomfortable with any discussion of their private life.
During one planned visit to Balmoral, Camilla was reportedly permitted to accompany Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry to Scotland — but she and Charles were expected to sleep at nearby Birkhall rather than stay with the queen inside Balmoral Castle.
“If they don’t keep everybody awake, then on future occasions they will probably be allowed to share the same accommodation as the queen,” a source claimed at the time.
Another insider said Elizabeth simply was not someone who openly discussed intimate relationships with her children.
“The queen has never spoken to her children about matters such as sex, affection and love,” the insider claimed, adding that hearing Charles and Camilla being intimate would have been “torture” for her.
The alleged Balmoral rules may not be surprising considering the embarrassment the royal family had already endured over one of the most infamous scandals involving Charles and Camilla.
In 1993, the contents of a private phone conversation recorded in 1989 were published, revealing an extremely intimate exchange between the future king and Camilla.
During the conversation, Charles joked that he wanted to “live inside” Camilla’s trousers and made a now-infamous comment about being reincarnated as a tampon.
The scandal exploded across Britain and became widely known as “Tampongate.”
Palace insiders claimed Elizabeth was “absolutely horrified” by the crude conversation.
Despite years of controversy surrounding their relationship, Charles and Camilla eventually married in 2005.
Elizabeth gradually became more publicly accepting of Camilla. In February 2022, the queen announced that it was her “sincere wish” that Camilla would be known as Queen Consort when Charles became king.
Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral Castle on September 8, 2022, at age 96.
Charles, Camilla and Princess Anne were among the family members who were at or near Balmoral during the queen’s final hours. Princes William and Harry also traveled to Scotland, but both arrived after their grandmother had died.
Charles immediately became king following his mother’s death, bringing his decades-long journey with Camilla — from one of the monarchy’s most controversial romances to the throne itself — full circle.
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