The One Person Who Keeps King Charles Going Through Every Crisis : 'Without Her, He Would Struggle'

King Charles has braved many scandals in his four-year reign, but he couldn't have predicted their impact.

In the past few years, the royal family has also largely functioned as a damage-control unit, struck by personal controversies too often. Unfortunately, for King Charles, most of them worsened during his reign. But royal experts believe that he couldn’t have predicted the scandals would blow up. 

Charles already had a “difficult” task cut out for himself when he took the throne after his mother’s iconic '70-year reign'. However, according to royal expert Phil Dampier, he “took to it like a duck to water and stamped his authority in the first week”. He added that Charles and Kate Middleton getting diagnosed with cancer was a “double blow” for the monarchy. And understandably so, considering they were two of the Firm's strongest pillars. 

Sadly, the health challenges didn’t quite offset the ever-intensifying royal dramas. "Then there's been all the family problems with Harry and Meghan's laundry airing and the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal. Some of these things have been brewing for years, but I don't think he could have anticipated that they would have blown up so big,” Dampier said via Hello!

According to Dampier, Queen Camilla has played a key role in supporting the King to overcome these controversies. That none of the scandals have broken the Crown might be to her credit. "None of these challenges have derailed the King's reign, and he’s had to be very resilient, but he has a very strong support system in his wife; without her I think he would struggle,” Dampier added. He mentioned that the Queen Consort kept the monarch “sane” and helped him “navigate each crisis”. 

The couple is now on the final leg of their historic Caribbean tour. They are currently in Antigua and Barbuda, where Charles will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as Head of the Commonwealth. 

Last week, the King made solo visits to the Bahamas and Guyana. His wife joined him for the final stretch of the tour.