Camilla Parker-Bowles and King Charles waited for years for the public to warm up to them. Their relationship raised eyebrows because they reconnected while he was still married to Princess Diana. However, an actor claimed that the queen consort had been treated badly due to her gender.
Camilla Parker-Bowles Was Treated Badly Because She's A Woman?
The Crown star Dominic West spoke about the tampongate scandal that plagued King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla decades ago. In his opinion, Camilla received more scrutiny than her now-husband because she's a woman.
"I never really thought about it at the time, but the research showed me how badly Camilla was treated," West said on Radio Times (via Express). "I don't think that would happen today. It happened for many reasons, one of them being she's a woman."
Speaking more about the controversy, West shared his recollection of the scandal. For him, it was supposed to be a personal conversation and actually found it "very sweet," but it was not meant to be for public consumption.
"Like most people, I remember thinking it was a sordid, embarrassing discussion," he continued. "But revisiting it, I found it was just an intensely personal conversation, and what was sordid was the prurient interest in it."
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, West said the press was "invasive" and "disgusting."
What Is Tampongate Scandal?
The tampongate scandal refers to an intimate conversation between King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla Parker-Bowles on Dec. 17, 1989. Both were still married to their former spouses — King Charles to Princess Diana and Camilla to her first husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles.
As depicted in Netflix's The Crown, King Charles and Camilla's phone conversation ranged from mundane to sexual. At one point, His Majesty told Camilla he would like to live in her trousers.
She asked him if he would be reincarnated as a pair o knickers. King Charles said it would be his luck to return as a tampon. That was the portion of their conversation that dominated the tabloids.
King Charles and Princess Diana separated in 1992 and divorced four years later. Camilla and her ex-husband lived apart in 1993 before finalizing their divorce in 1995.
Stay tuned for more news and updates about King Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.