King Charles and Queen Camilla’s Marriage Thrives on Friendship—And Having Their Own Bedrooms

This week, King Charles III and Queen Camilla celebrated their 20th anniversary with a romantic photo shoot in Rome—and a 20-minute meeting with Pope Francis. The couple, who were married in an April 2025 civil ceremony three decades after they first met, have been showing off their close relationship through trips to iconic locations and jaunts for ice cream during their royal tour of Italy. As a sign of her affection, the queen even rewore her wedding dress on Wednesday.

According to one commentator, their majesties’ relationship works well for a few simple reasons. “They have known each other since [they were] very young and are great friends. There is no competitive edge between King Charles and Queen Camilla,” broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox News. “They have also sussed out the best sleeping arrangements. At Clarence House, they are privileged to have their own bedrooms as well as their shared bedroom.”

Charles and Camilla first moved into Clarence House, which belonged to the Queen Mother for more than 40 years, in 2002. At the beginning of the king’s reign in 2022, the couple decided that they would stay there rather than occupy Buckingham Palace, the monarch’s traditional home, due in part to ongoing renovations, which are expected to last until 2027.

Charles and Camilla are not the only monarch and consort to have separate bedrooms in addition to a shared bedroom, and in fact, it was a practice that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip also kept throughout their marriage. In the 19th and 20th century, it was common for members of the British aristocracy and royal family to keep separate bedrooms whether or not their relationships were strong. In his 1991 memoir about his time serving as Lord Mountbatten’s valet, William Evans explained that the practices derived from “the diversity of their interests and duties” between Mountbatten and his wife, Lady Edwina Mountbatten. “Most of the royal family and British aristocracy” followed suit, Evans wrote, because “practical considerations override personal ones.”

When Charles and Camilla wed in 2005, seven years after the death of Princess Diana, his mother did not attend the wedding because both were divorced. The couple chose a civil ceremony to avoid religious controversy, and, as the head of the Church of England at the time, the late queen reportedly believed she was not allowed to attend a nonreligious wedding ceremony. The couple also owns separate country homes. Charles bought Highgrove Estate a year before his first marriage, and he and Diana were believed to sleep in separate bedrooms in that home. Before marrying Charles, Camilla had lived in her private home, Ray Mill House, and she has held onto the property ever since. Most years, she will spend a week vacationing in the house alone, and during the pandemic, her son Tom Parker Bowles quarantined in the house with his two children.