AN ENDURING LOVE STORY

As the King and Queen celebrate two decades of marriage, we look at the strength of their relationship through highs and lows

- TRACY SCHAVERIEN

Their love story has spanned six decades and placed them side by side at the head of the monarchy. As King Charles and Queen Camilla celebrate 20 years of marriage, their unshakable bond is more apparent than ever.

The royal couple marked their milestone anniversary in Italy, where they were celebrated with a glittering black-tie state banquet hosted by President Mattarella at Quirinal Palace. Posing for anniversary portraits with his wife in Rome two days earlier, Charles, 76, who is still undergoing cancer treatment, looked hale and hearty after his recent health episode (see page 30).

He and Camilla showed they're still as in sync as they were two decades ago, when the new Duchess of Cornwall – in her pale blue-and-gold Robinson Valentine coat and Philip Treacy feathered headpiece nervously emerged from the west door of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on the arm of her new husband, the Prince of Wales.

CROWN JEWEL

Now 77, Camilla is not only Queen but also a more self-assured figure who has been a rock for His Majesty during the most difficult challenges – from his estrangement with his younger son, Prince Harry, to the death of both his parents to his own shocking diagnosis.

“She is an absolutely essential part of his well-being, his life and his work, and I think she's been magnificent,” royal author Ingrid Seward tells Hello!

“Camilla is very strong and resilient, and she is his emotional strength. The late Queen always said, in that job, you need someone to share it with, and Camilla makes him a better man and a better King.”