Queen Camilla has opened up about her 20-year marriage to King Charles with warmth and wit during a candid interview with British press as part of the Royal couple’s official state visit to Italy.
To mark the special anniversary, Buckingham Palace released new portraits of Their Majesties at Villa Wolkonsky, the British ambassador’s residence in Rome.
Speaking from Rome, the Queen shared personal reflections on love, laughter, and the joys of simply ‘getting on with life’ – sentiments she credits as the key ingredients to a happy and lasting royal marriage.
Amid diplomatic engagements and glittering state ceremonies, the Queen took a solo moment to speak with reporters during a visit to a school celebrating the British Council’s 80th anniversary. Smiling and relaxed, she spoke fondly of their two decades of marriage – a milestone being marked while they’re thousands of miles from home.
‘Twenty years, who could believe it was 20 years?’ she said, her tone laced with surprise and joy. ‘What is the secret? I don’t know… well, I suppose it’s just sort of friendship, really. Laughing at the same things, getting on with life.’
Their Majesties, whose love story famously weathered public scrutiny and decades of media attention, celebrated the anniversary in Italy’s romantic capital. Though they spent the morning apart – Charles meeting Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and addressing the Italian Parliament, while Camilla visited schoolchildren learning about Paddington Bear – they planned a quiet catch-up ahead of that evening’s state banquet hosted by President Sergio Mattarella.
‘We are always going in different directions, like ships that pass in the night really,’ Camilla joked, brushing off the icing on her hands after cutting a celebratory cake. “We whizz past each other. In fact, we have got a bit of a catch-up this afternoon.”
Despite the tight schedule of their four-day state visit, Queen Camilla confirmed that a more personal celebration will come later. “We’re going to do that when we get back,” she explained. “Otherwise you can’t really… you have to rush it. You don’t have time to say anything. No, I think we might dig into our pockets and pull something out at the end of the day.”
Pressed for details, the Queen teased that she had a surprise planned: “Ah yes, well I have got something. Because it’s china – you know, the traditional gift.”
Charles and Camilla pose in an official photograph ahead of their wedding anniversary. (Royal Family)
When asked if she ever wished her hard-working husband would slow down, Camilla laughed, “Dream on!” Still, she acknowledged that they manage to relax together in the evenings: “We have time over dinner to do a bit of catching up.”
Italy holds a special place in both their hearts, she added. The couple has often chosen the country for private holidays, and for Camilla, it carries childhood memories of sun-soaked family trips to Tuscany and the island of Ischia.
“We used to come here as children,” she said. “We used to go to Ischia, one of the lovely little islands off Naples, so I’ve always loved it here.”
The Coronation of King Charles III – Charles and Camilla wave from the balcony at Buckingham Palace
Asked if it felt special to be celebrating their anniversary in Italy, Queen Camilla smiled: “It is. It would be very nice if we got a day off and went somewhere but that was not going to happen! You come to Italy and you feel better. They are so friendly. Everybody is so lovely. You’ve got the food, the weather, there’s something in the air.”
“Everything tastes better here,” she added with a laugh. “Why is it tomatoes, why is it pasta tastes better? You take it back to England – it doesn’t taste the same!”
After two decades of marriage, and a lifetime in the public eye, Queen Camilla’s sentiment remains refreshingly down-to-earth: “You just keep going. That’s the secret.”
