PostLove can touch us one time And last for a lifetime …
So go the words of the Celine Dion song My Heart Will Go On – words that seem to hold true for, arguably, two of the greatest love stories of all time, Romeo and Juliet and Charles and Camilla.
It was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I more than 450 years ago that William Shakespeare wrote the tragic tale of the two teenagers – Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet.
Their families hated each other but they met at a party, fell in love and secretly married the next day. Unaware that she was already wed, Juliet's family planned her marriage to someone else. To get out of it, she faked a suicide.
However, nobody told Romeo who genuinely believed Juliet had died and, as a result, killed himself. When Juliet woke up and realised Romeo was dead, she took her life.
The lovers knew one another for a little more than four days but such was the intensity of their feelings they could not bear to live without each other.
The story of Romeo and Juliet was fictional, but during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, an equally intense love affair played itself out.
The main characters were Charles, the queen's first born, and Camilla Shand. According to reports, the two first met in 1970 at a polo match and had an instant connection. But their families did not approve.
A little older and wiser than Romeo and Juliet, the two tried to live their lives without each other.
Camilla married Andrew Parker Bowles, a military officer, and the couple had two children. Charles went on to marry Diana Frances Spencer and they had two sons – William and Harry. But clearly, Charles and Camilla still loved one another, dearly.
In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1995, Diana said: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
By 1995, Camilla was divorced and, within months, so was Charles. However, the general public cast Camilla as the Evil Mistress who had robbed a saintly Diana of love and happiness. When Diana was killed in a car crash, attitudes hardened.
Charles and Camilla later moved in together but stayed out of the limelight until 1999, when the media was tipped off that they were attending a function at the Ritz Hotel.
Twenty years later, they are still together and some have even warmed up to Camilla.
In an interview to mark his 21st birthday in 2005, Prince Harry said: "To be honest with you, she's always been very close to me and William. She's not the wicked stepmother."
Charles and Camilla married that year but, for most of her married life, she was destined to be the "Princess Consort" if Charles became King.
But, eight months before she died, Queen Elizabeth decided that Camilla had done enough to be called "Queen Consort".
Today, Charles is king and beside him is Camilla, his queen. It is a love story that started with a moment more than 50 years ago.
It has endured countless challenges and remained steadfast. It is a love that has given new meaning to Shakespeare's Sonnet 116: … Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds Or bends with the remover to remove.
