Prince Philip dies on Charles and Camilla's marriage anniversary, having skipped their wedding 16 years ago
Prince Philip died on Friday, April 9 -- a date which was already significant in royal history as it was the day Prince Charles got married to Camilla Parker Bowles, 16 years ago.
"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the palace said in a statement. "His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle." They continued, "The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."
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The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles officially tied the knot in a civil ceremony on April 9, 2005, at Windsor Castle. Since they were both divorced, the ceremony was a low-key one, with none of the grandeur and pomp of a royal wedding. This was followed by a blessing at Windsor Castle instead of a church service.
As a result of the sad news of Prince Phillip's death, Prince Charles, 72, and Camilla, 73, did not post anything on their official social media accounts to mark their 16th anniversary on Friday, April 9.
Instead, they retweeted the statement posted from all official royal family accounts about the news of Philip's death with a black and white portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Philip did not attend Prince Charles' second wedding
Considering the fact that Prince Charles’ infamous affair with Camilla Parker Bowles ruined his first marriage with Princess Diana, he waited a long time before he married her. Diana's tragic death in 1997 further delayed the process as she was quite beloved in the United Kingdom. Leading up to their wedding in 2005, it took quite a bit of effort before Camilla was able to gain the trust of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, made especially difficult given her public image as a homewrecker.
As a result, when Prince Charles and Camilla finally exchanged vows in 2005, Queen Elizabeth and Philip skipped out on the ceremony. In the 2018 book, 'Rebel Prince: The Power, Passion and Defiance of Prince Charles,' author Tom Bower wrote that Charles was heartbroken when his parents did not attend his second wedding.
It was eventually revealed that Queen Elizabeth and Philip did not attend the wedding because it was not a religious ceremony. Charles later did attend the Service of Prayer and Dedication ceremony inside St George’s Chapel, which was held after the wedding ceremony.
Prince Phillip's advice to Charles
When Prince Charles was getting ready to tie the knot with Princess Diana in 1981, he started having doubts about the union and allegedly asked Philip for advice. At the time, Prince Charles knew that he still had feelings for Camilla and Philip reportedly told him that if things don’t work out with Diana, he could always go back to Camilla in a few years.
“My father-in-law said to my husband, ‘If your marriage doesn’t work out, you can always go back to her after five years,’” Diana recalled later during an interview. “Which is exactly—I mean, for real I knew that it had happened after five—I knew something was happening before that but the fifth year I had confirmation.”
Paul Burrell, who used to be a butler for the royal family, revealed in a tell-all, 'A Royal Duty,' that Charles and Diana were told that they needed to compromise to make their marriage work. Despite knowing about her husband's affair, Diana was urged to stay with Prince Charles for the sake of her children and the monarchy. Charles and Diana finalized their divorce in 1996, a year before her tragic death in Paris.