According to Newsidea “in 1995 Panorama interview, journalist Martin Bashir asked if she hoped Prince William would succeed the Queen rather than Charles, and she made it clear that she did, replying, “My wish is that my husband finds peace of mind, and from that follows others things, yes.”And it appears the Duchess of Cornwall might welcome this dramatic step back from the rigours of public life, too.
Royal biographer Penny Junor previously told Royals Monthly that Camilla has always embraced a low-key life away from all the pomp and ceremony her husband was brought up with and regards as normal.
She has still hung on to her house [in Wiltshire, near Highgrove House] which she bought after her divorce,” the author of Prince William: The Man Who Will Be King points out.
“Every weekend she goes to see her family there. She’s very devoted to her children and grandchildren. Charles will sometimes go with her.
“They live in a very low-key way. They don’t have any servants there. She just lives life as she used to.”
And perhaps even more significantly, Camilla doesn’t harbour any royal aspirations of her own.
“She has no ambition for herself at all. She isn’t interested in being a great figure. She just wants to do what she can for the causes she cares about. She is quite happy to support Charles,” Penny adds.
“He feels it will be seen as another mess on his doorstep: first the disaster over the mother, now the disaster over the mother’s son,” the insider told the UK newspaper.
While Camilla has faced strong public criticism, too, behind the scenes she has more than proved herself as a working royal.
“The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, over the past 15 years, will have been really pleased with the way Camilla has turned out. She works hard. She has never worked in her life before. At the age of 57 she took on one of the hardest jobs going, and she’s done it really well,” Penny says.
“People admire her and the causes she’s adopted. I think they are very pleased and comforted knowing that Charles will have her by her side. Being a prince or a monarch on your own is a very lonely business.”
“Camilla will have a small health issue – which will be brought to the public interest through weight loss – there will be speculation that she is on a health kick but the weight loss will be to do with a slight health issue.”