As many couples will tell you, nothing is harder than when your partner and parents don't get along. This is especially so when your mother is the Queen of England.
In the latest biography on the British monarchy titled Rebel Prince: The Power and Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles, investigative journalist Tom Bower reveals Queen Elizabeth II iced out Camilla Parker Bowles of several royal affairs before she married her son, Prince Charles.
Charles - who had an affair with the now-Duchess of Cornwall while still married to the late Princess Diana - reportedly confronted his mother about her hostility towards Camilla in 1998, only to get a scathing response in return.
After drinking several martinis, Elizabeth allegedly said she would never "condone his adultery, nor forgive Camilla for not leaving Charles alone to allow his marriage to recover."
She further branded Camilla as "that wicked woman," and said, "I want nothing to do with her."
Following the confrontation, Charles supposedly called his former mistress in tears to inform her of his mother's blunt response.
While Charles had the support of his aunt, Princess Margaret, his cherished grandmother, the Queen Mother, also disapproved of the controversial relationship.
While this isn't the first time a royal feud has taken place, it may have been the most vexing, reaching its climax when Charles and Camilla's wedding took place.
Even though the couple's nuptials were fast approaching, the Queen refused to invite Camilla to any royal-related ceremonies or official dinners and "even hinted that there was very little special Welsh gold left to make Camilla's wedding ring," Bower wrote.
While the pair finally wed in 2005, it did not go off without a hitch. As they were both adulterers and divorcees, Charles and Camilla were forbidden to have their wedding in the Church of England. Instead, their ceremony was held at Windsor Town Hall and the Queen didn't attend.
The royal matriarch also made her disdain abundantly clear during the reception, and denied her son's proposal for an extravagant dinner party for 650 guests at Windsor Castle.
According to Bower, the British monarch had purposely avoided Camilla, and to add insult to injury, even made a point to spend time with her ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, by watching the horse races together.
Eventually as time passed, Elizabeth began to slowly soften towards her unwanted daughter-in-law and the two have been seen together in various public events, including at the Queen's beloved Royal Windsor Horse Show.
Bower added the Queen failed to mention Camilla's name in her congratulatory speech, and only spent a mere 52 seconds posing for photographs with the newlywed couple.
But, despite their budding relationship, the chances of Camilla inheriting the title of queen is still up in the air.
With several members of the royal family hesitant to have the Duchess of Cornwall be given the title following Elizabeth's death, reports are emerging Charles will declare his wife queen when he ascends to the throne.
Despite Charles's private secretary, Michael Peat, denying his wife would ever be named queen and be given the title of Princess Consort instead, lawyers for the British government had admitted Charles and Camilla's relationship isn't morganatic, which means each spouse is considered of equal rank. This means there are very few roadblocks to stop her from becoming queen.
But since Elizabeth is as healthy as ever, only time will tell what the future holds for this loved up pair.
Do you think the Queen should have immediately accepted Camilla into the royal family?
[H/T: Daily Mail, PEOPLE]
