Camilla Parker Bowles

Kieron Lang, CTV.ca News

Camilla Parker Bowles, Britain's most famous "other woman," was born Camilla Rosemary Shand in July, 1947.

The granddaughter of Lord Ashcombe, the 3rd Baron of Ashcombe, Camilla grew up on a country estate in Sussex. She was educated at London's exclusive Queen's Gate School and at finishing schools in Switzerland and France before "coming out" socially as a debutante in 1965.

Camilla's upbringing made her at home in the upper-class circles of the rural rich.

She and Prince Charles met in the early 1970s at a polo match, where the young Camilla is said to have pointed out that her great-grandmother Alice Keppel had a love affair with his great-great-grandfather King Edward VII.

"My great-grandmother was your great-great-grandfather's mistress. So how about it?'' she is reported to have told the prince.

Their friendship quickly grew, and romance blossomed, but when Charles chose to concentrate on his career in the navy the relationship cooled.

Camilla married cavalry officer Maj. Andrew Parker Bowles. They had two children, Tom and Laura.

But she remained close with Charles, even travelling as official escort to the prince during the Zimbabwean independence celebrations in 1980.

Despite their respective marriages, it is believed the couple's affections hardly faded.

In fact the two remained such constant friends, it is said Camilla helped the prince choose a suitable wife, and encouraged him in his pursuit of Lady Diana Spencer.

Charles and Diana were married in a lavish "fairytale" wedding in July, 1981.

But by the mid-80s, there was widespread talk the old flames of love between Charles and Camilla had been undeniably rekindled.

Trouble simmered below the surface until 1992, when a famous recording of an intimate telephone conversation between the prince and his lover surfaced.

In December of that year, Charles and Diana announced their separation.

As a trusted member of the prince's inner circle, Camilla offered Charles her private support while remaining publicly silent.

But two years later, Charles answered swirling public speculation himself, with a nationally televised admission that he had committed adultery.

Diana followed with her own television interview, in which she tearfully complained of being in a marriage of three people.

Camilla was publicly vilified and ended up divorcing her husband in 1995.

A year later after Charles and Diana divorced, Camilla became a visible presence at Prince Charles' Highgrove home.

But Diana's sudden death drove the couple back into hiding. With the public mood too raw for someone to step into the late Diana's shoes, Camilla and Charles took little steps into the public spotlight.

A few tentative public engagements in each other's presence eventually grew into events attended in each other's company.

The British media began to comment on how discreet Camilla was for never commenting on the breakup of the royal marriage.

This combined with the fact that she had no interest in the fame that came along with dating a royal helped her win a degree of public acceptance.

A breakthrough of sorts came in 1999, when Camilla joined Charles and his two sons, Princes William and Harry, on a Mediteranean cruise.

It took another five years, however, for Charles to officially acknowledge his relationship with Camilla by including her in his accounts.

The couple's slow and steady pace was upset in February 2005, when a newspaper story prompted them to rush an announcement of their engagement and wedding plans.