King Charles and Queen Camilla have maintained their own separate residences even after 20 years of marriage. The couple is famously known for having their own houses that they retreat to every once in a while. Here’s how the couple’s living arrangements affect their relationship, according to a love coach and body language.
Camilla owns the Ray Mill House, which she bought after her first divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles. The Queen consort is known to spend time at her country home once in a while, where she usually hosts her children and grandchildren. Charles has his own home in the country named Highgrove House.
The couple staying apart could naturally result in fewer “moments of intimacy.” Love coach, Nicole Moor, explains how, when a couple lives together in close proximity, they bond over mundane things. According to the celebrity love coach, couples doing simple things like waking up together and just existing in the same house can bring them closer together.
“Physical distance can sometimes lead to emotional distance,” Moore notes. Journalist Tina Brown mentions how Camilla struggled with coping with Charles’ routine at the beginning. “He never ate lunch, and breakfasted on the same birdseed and peeled fruit every morning,” Brown mentions in The Palace Papers.
They’re so happy together ❤️ #KingCharlesIII#QueenCamilla pic.twitter.com/OkJCVGuw63
— darlings 💞 (@lasloria) November 28, 2024
Brown also notes how Camila’s not being punctual caused friction between the couple at times. Reportedly, Charles expected his wife to be ready for official engagements in a “regimented pace.”
Moore notes how it might be beneficial for partners with extremely different sleep or work schedules to have separate residences in their marriage. Having this specific kind of arrangement helps the spouses have their own uninterrupted time while making sure it doesn’t disturb the other one.
Charles and Camilla’s separate residences make even more sense when you take their children from their previous marriages into consideration. When the couple got married, their respective children weren’t fully grown-ups. Katie Nicholl, the author of Harry and William, notes how the couple’s children had a visibly tense relationship when they first got married.
King Charles and Queen Camilla with their children and some of the grandchildren for #StepFamilyDay pic.twitter.com/nZ1Tk3FkhC
— no context queen camilla (@nocontxtcamilla) September 16, 2023
Nicholl revealed how Prince William and Camilla’s daughter, Laura Lopes, kept fighting in the beginning. Both the children blamed each other’s parents for having the affair. Prince Harry, who had initially moved in with Camilla and Charles, has also spoken about his unpleasant experience during an interview in the past.
In his memoir Spare, the Duke opens up about how the first time he visited home after moving out was not happy with the sight he was met with. “I tried not to care. But especially the first time I saw it, I cared,” he confessed in an interview with Page Six. Camilla has allegedly turned Harry’s bedroom into a dressing room.
