Camilla has ‘transformed Charles from ‘serious’ to ‘fun’, royal commentator tells Hello 

A biographer has revealed how Camilla Parker-Bowles has ‘snapped’ Prince Charles out of being a ‘morose character’ and turned him into a fun and happy royal. 

British royal biographer Penny Junor, 70, described how Prince Charles, 71, and Camilla, 72, who celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary in April, share a ‘great sense of humour and fun’.

Describing the Prince of Wales as a formerly ‘sullen’ type who was always ‘in waiting’, she told how the Duchess of Cornwall has ‘transformed’ him into a ‘confident’ future king.

Penny told Hello magazine: ‘I’ve seen a huge change in Charles over these past years. He used to be quite a morose character; he was very serious and didn’t laugh a lot. 

‘Camilla snapped him out of that and she has completely transformed him.

‘He is a much happier man and has so much more confidence these days. It’s wonderful to see’. 

The couple have come a long way since their relationship kicked off with a controversial first public appearance. 

Just before midnight on January 28 1999, the Prince of Wales and his long-term love, Camilla Parker Bowles, stepped out in public for the first time as a couple. 

They were photographed in front of London’s Ritz Hotel as they left a 50th birthday party for Camilla’s sister, Annabel Elliot.

Charles and Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall, eventually went on to marry in 2005, but in 1997, following the death of Charles’s ex-wife Diana, Princess of Wales, Camilla mostly stayed away from the limelight.

Future king Charles, then 50, and his former mistress had gone to great lengths to avoid being seen – or photographed together in public.

But the carefully choreographed “coming out” signalled their relationship was finally official.

State banquets, State Openings of Parliament, royal tours and even joint engagements with the Queen have become the norm for Camilla – 20 years on from a brief, but momentous appearance as she headed home from a party.