King Charles recently warned Prince William regarding his marriage.
“[His father] said, ‘Look, William, there’s nothing more important than your family,’” Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “My Mother and I,” told Fox News.
“’Don’t make the mistakes that I made,’” Seward claimed he said.
“I just did duty, duty, duty. I neglected my marriage, and look what happened.’”
There are lessons to be learned from the king’s past as well. Charles met Camilla Parker Bowles at a polo match in 1970. The pair became close. However, their romance was interrupted by his eight months of naval duty. In his absence, Camilla married her longtime boyfriend, army officer Andrew Parker Bowles, in 1973.
In 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Spencer. The union was plagued with problems and scrutinized by the tabloids.
Camilla and Andrew divorced in 1995 and it was shortly after Charles gave an explosive interview admitting an affair with his former love. Charles and Diana’s divorce was finalized in 1996, a year before the princess was killed in a car crash at age 36.
William met Kate Middleton while they were both students at St. Andrews University in 2001. The following year, they moved in together with friends. In 2003, they moved into a place of their own, just a year before their relationship became public.
After nearly five years of dating, the couple parted ways in 2007 but reunited later that same year. William proposed to Kate in 2010, and they married in 2011.
The Prince and Princess of Wales share three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. William is heir to the British throne.
Seward stated that Charles is a “big supporter” of the union and encouraged William to put duty aside when Kate was faced with a major health blow.
In January of this year, Kensington Palace announced Kate underwent a “planned abdominal surgery.” William postponed official royal duties to be by Kate’s side and support their family.
The princess became the subject of online conspiracy theories surrounding her health and the 42-year-old announced in March that, following her operation, “cancer had been present.” In September, Kate announced she was cancer-free.
