Prince Charles and his lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, stepped out in public as a couple for the first time last night – to the delight of royal shutterbugs and shrieking onlookers.
The long-awaited photo op took place as the lovebirds left a birthday party at London’s swank Ritz Hotel and got into a black limousine just before the stroke of midnight.
Smiling broadly as cameras flashed, Charles and Camilla stood on the pavement for a few moments before he put his arm around her and helped her into the car.
Until the 15-second appearance, the two had always arrived and departed separately at social events, frustrating photographers desperate for a picture of them as a couple.
“I cannot recall being so excited and nervous about taking a picture for a long, long while,” London Sun royal photographer Arthur Edwards said. Some have estimated that an exclusive photo could fetch more than a million dollars.
Speculation that the two would appear together ran high before the party for Parker Bowles’ sister, and many of the 150 photographers assembled had staked out good spots.
Royal watchers said the careful choreography of the event was a sign that Charles is determined that the public accept Camilla, his lover of 25 years, as his partner.
The prince’s romance with Parker-Bowles was blamed by many for the breakup of his marriage to Princess Diana – who nicknamed her rival “The Rottweiler.”