Um, I am unaware of any reputable sources that claimed Camilla herself wished to remarry - can someone perhaps educate me on such a source? From what I have read and observed, Camilla neither sought out the end of her first marriage nor the start of her second. And her present behavior suggests she doesn't exactly relish the role.
Like it or not, Camilla and her first husband were obviously both aware, accepting and content with each other's discreet extramarital affairs. Perhaps shocking to some but quite acceptable in other circles (particularly the British upper classes). It wasn't until the story broke in the press about Charles/Camilla's affair that Mr. Parker Bowles' hand was forced and divorce became unavoidable.
After that, Camilla had a pretty good set-up as a divorcee. She had a comfortable income, her own home in her beloved countryside, her friends and family around her, and her lover coming by every three weeks or so. Even Diana, in tapes recorded between 1992 and 1993 by her voice coach Peter Settelen and later acquired by NBC, commented on Charles' schedule and limited need for intimacy / sex.
"There was never a requirement for it from him," the princess says. "Once every three weeks about, and I kept thinking it followed a pattern. He used to see his lady once every three weeks before we got married," she says, in a reference to the prince's lover and current companion, Camilla Parker Bowles.
And by all accounts Camilla dislikes most parts of being the wife of the heir to the throne. She has little desire to undertake official duties (she has even been kindly described as a bit lazy). She doesn't particularly like getting dressed up, instead being more comfortable in informal country clothing. She doesn't like traveling much, doesn't like to speak in public very often, isn't big on small talk, and escapes to her private country life as often as she can.
Do these sound like the traits of a fiercely ambitious woman DESPERATE to marry Charles and become a Duchess and eventually a Queen? How absurd. She was around the royals - and Charles in particular - for decades. She knew exactly what marriage to him would require of her - and most of it is opposite of her nature.
As for the Queen - she is well known to prefer to stay out of the personal lives of her children except when it becomes essential. She waited and watched for a long time before advising Charles and Diana to divorce. But then Charles hurled down the gauntlet by insisting that "Camilla is a non negotiable part of his life."
So the Queen and her advisors had two options: In a couple of decades was Charles going to succeed as King as a divorced man living in sin with a divorcee, or as a King who had happily re-married a couple of decades earlier? Given what happened in 1937, which option do you think the Queen chose? Published reports at the time say the Queen advised the couple to marry.
