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What Really Happened In The Infamous Tampongate Call Between King Charles And Queen Camilla
After Prince Charles and Princess Diana split up in 1992, there were rumors that he had been unfaithful in the marriage with Camilla and eventually they were confirmed.
Many royal family members and their relationships including King Charles III and Queen Camila’s, have long been marred by scandals and negative press. Among many such was a not-so-secret affair and a joke involving tampons which turned into "Tampongate," a scandalous affair that caused turmoil for the royal family, especially the current King, decades ago.
The scandal recently came to the spotlight when the popular Emmy-winning Netflix series The Crown Season 5 touched upon the topic in 2022, the same year Prince Charles became the new King with Camilla as the Queen. To understand what the scandal is about and why it became a scandal, we need to explore Prince Charles and Diana’s marriage and his infamous affair with Camilla at the time.
About King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s relationship
The royal couple began dating in the early 1970s, but they moved on and started families with different individuals after their breakup– Prince Charles to Princess Diana and Camilla to Andrew Parker Bowles. But as everyone knows, they did eventually get back together, there was drama, and the rest is history.
Over the years, their well-known and infamous romance has generated a lot of attention. Not only was it messy enough for a royal to have an affair, but Charles also betrayed his wife Princess Diana, who was loved globally. When it was revealed that Camilla was the other woman in the royal couple's relationship, she didn't exactly gain a lot of supporters; in fact, for years, she was referred to as the “most-hated woman in Britain.”
What is the controversial Tampongate Call between King Charles and Camilla?
After dating for a period earlier in the decade, Charles III, the King Consort, and Camilla had a brief affair in the late 1970s. After Charles and Princess Diana split up in 1992, there were rumors that he had been unfaithful in the marriage. When British media sources obtained a transcript of one of King Charles and Camilla's phone conversations, those rumors were all but confirmed.
First held in 1989, the conversation made headlines in the media in 1993. The concept of Charles cheating on Princess Diana was already unpopular with the people before the transcript was leaked. The call's explicit content elevated the situation.
The phone conversation that was leaked, now known as "Tampongate," was named after Charles expressed his desire to live in Camilla's pants and reincarnate as her tampon. “Oh, God. I’ll just live inside your trousers or something. It would be much easier!” said Charles to Camilla. To which, she laughed and replied, “What...are you going to turn into a pair of knickers? Oh, you’re going to come back as a pair of knickers.” Interrupting her, Charles said, “Or, God forbid, a Tampax. Just my luck!” And Camilla responded, “You are a complete idiot! Oh, what a wonderful idea.”
Reaction to the scandal
It is unclear how the transcript ended up in the hands of the media or if it was kept secret for years before being released, but in any case, the public was appalled and outraged. In Guarding Diana, Ken Wharfe, Diana's former bodyguard, observed, “The backlash was savage.” Establishment leaders who were typically devoted to the future King and nation were horrified, and some even questioned the Prince's eligibility for leadership.”
As per a Harper Bazaar report, Howard Hodgson in his biography of the king, also shared, “He remains deeply ashamed of the embarrassment that he caused his mother, deeply sorry for the pain it caused both his and Camilla’s children.”
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