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Prince Charles makes it official - Camilla is a kept woman

Camilla exists. Mrs Parker Bowles, the Prince of Wales's mistress, has been acknowledged in an official royal document for the first time, scoring three mentions by name in an unprecedented annual review of the prince's good works, duties and healthy accounts.

In a new-found spirit of openness after recent scandals, the future king has revealed that Mrs Parker Bowles, the woman Princess Diana blamed for her failed marriage, is what used to be called a kept woman - and as much a part of his household as his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Coming clean about Camilla will raise speculation that the prince is preparing the British public for a marriage announcement, though senior staff at Clarence House and royal watchers played down such talk.

The prince funds her two secretaries, a driver and a gardener, and is believed to pay for other costs, such as grooming, travel and security from income derived from the Duchy of Cornwall. While the exact figure is not revealed, it has been estimated she costs the prince about £250,000 ($650,000) a year.

Not that he is short of a quid. The prince's income from the Duchy of Cornwall, a massive portfolio of land and property, rose by £2 million to £11.9 million in 2003-04.

The 48-page review shows the Prince has 112 full staff - 84 for his official and charitable works and 28 personal servants - and paid £4.4 million in tax and personal expenditure.

Posted by thinkum at July 1, 2004 03:15 PM