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Last Updated: Wednesday, 6 April 2005, 05:50 GMT 06:50 UK

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Timeline: Charles and Camilla's romance

September, 1971

Charles joins the Navy and a fledgling romance with Camilla Shand cools.
A young Charles and Camilla first meet at a polo match in Windsor in 1970. But it's Charles' decision to enter the Royal Navy the following year that scuppers their developing relationship at least for the time being.

July, 1973

Camilla marries Major Andrew Parker Bowles.
Camilla's attentions turn elsewhere and she marries her longstanding admirer Major Andrew Parker Bowles also a friend of Charles. The couple remain friends with the Prince and over the next couple of decades Charles and Camilla grow closer.

November, 1977

Charles meets Di and a romance blossoms.
Charles meets a shy 16yearold Lady Diana Spencer. Shortly afterwards begins a relationship that is to captivate people all over the world encouraged according to some commentators by Camilla.

February, 1981

Charles and Diana disclose that they are to marry.
Charles proposes to Diana triggering a media frenzy of attention that would last until her death. quotShy Diquot is to become the most photographed woman in the world sometimes leaving Charles in the shadows. Asked by reporters whether he was in love he famously replies quot... whatever love is.quot

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July, 1981

The wedding of the century Charles and Diana marry.
The wedding of the heir to the throne and his radiant bride at St Paul's Cathedral is the fairytale wedding that suited the press and it seems most of the country. They soon learn however that the reality of their marriage is not quite as romantic.

November, 1992

Charles is rocked by the Camillagate tapes.
The relationship between Charles and Camilla is brought into public focus by publication of parts of the socalled Camillagate tape of a telephone conversation between the couple in which intimate details of their mutual affection are revealed. The full transcript is published soon afterwards.

December, 1992

Charles and Diana separate.
Official confirmation of the marriage breakdown comes when Prime Minister John Major announces that Charles and Diana are to separate.

June, 1994

Charles admits adultery.
Charles admits in a TV documentary that he has committed adultery during his marriage. He makes the revelation during a televised interview with Jonathan Dimbleby who is later to write his authorised biography.

November, 1994

Charles authorised biography names Camilla as Charles lover.
Dimbleby later confirms in his biography of the prince that the third party is Camilla. A biography of Diana claims she has been unfaithful to Charles.

January, 1995

Andrew and Camilla Parker Bowles divorce. Andrew remarries soon afterwards.

November, 1995

Diana pours her heart out on TV.
Diana appears in her own television documentary in which she admits her infidelity and reveals her unhappiness in a marriage in which there were three people.

August, 1996

Charles and Diana are divorced more than three years after their formal separation.

August, 1997

Diana is killed in a car crash in Paris which also claims the life of Dodi Fayed.
The death of Diana and her close friend Dodi Fayed in a car crash in Paris triggered an astonishing outpouring of emotion and mourning around the world. It also inevitably brought to a temporary halt Camilla's gradual emergence into the public eye as the new woman in Charles' life.

June, 1998

Camilla meets the young princes.
Camilla's formal introduction as a longterm partner for Charles begins to gather pace. A key moment is her chance meeting with Charles' elder son Prince William at St James's Palace. Unintentional it may be but it helps break the ice and paves the way for more frequent social events involving Charles' sons and his new love.

January, 1999

Charles and Camilla are seen in public together.
At last the couple are photographed in public together. Charles and Camilla emerge from a 50th birthday party for a friend at the Ritz to a cacophony of flashbulbs popping and a media scrum rarely witnessed since Dianas death.

August, 1999

Camilla joins Charles and his sons on holiday.
Camillas rehabilitation after the negative response to revelations that she was the other woman in Charles and Dianas marriage took another step forward when she and her children joined Charles and his sons on a family holiday in Greece.

June, 2000

Camilla meets the Queen.
It takes best part of another year for Camilla formally to meet the Queen so marking a significant thawing in relations with the monarch. Charles had been upset by his mother's failure to attend his 50th birthday celebrations in 1998 because of Camilla's presence. But the Queen's decision to accept an invitation to King Constantine of Greece's 60th birthday party at Highgrove where Camilla is also a guest is regarded as a breakthrough.

June, 2001

A year on and Charles and Camilla share their first public kiss.

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August, 2003

Camilla moves in with Charles.
The couple are now living together at Highgrove Gloucestershire and when Charles moves into the Queen Mothers former residence Clarence House so does Camilla though Buckingham Palace points out that decoration of her suite has not involved public funds.

February, 2005

Charles and Camilla get engaged.
Charles and Camilla announce their engagement triggering a division of public opinion and a host of controversies over the constitutional and legal implications and even a rethink over the venue for the ceremony. But at last the plans are laid and couple prepare for their big day.