Tampongate or Camillagate refers to the controversy over a 1989 telephone conversation between Charles, Prince of Wales (later

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

), and his then-lover, Camilla Parker Bowles (later

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East ...

), which was published in the

tabloid press Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

in 1993. The tape immediately damaged Charles's public image, and the media vilified Parker Bowles for the breakdown of his marriage to

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

. The publication of the tape came only a month after Charles and Diana's formal separation had been announced in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Background and context

The scandal was made public in the United Kingdom on 17 January 1993 by the ''

Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the '' ...

'' and the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'' although by then Australian magazine ''

New Idea ''New Idea'' is a long-running Australian weekly magazine aimed at women, now published by Are Media. History The magazine was first published in 1902 by Fitchett Bros. The founder was Thomas Shaw Fitchett. It was subtitled A Women's Home Journal ...

'' and a German tabloid had reported on the matter. The tapes were of a six-minute telephone conversation between the Prince of Wales and his then-mistress recorded on the evening of 18 December 1989, while Camilla was at her home and Charles was at a friend's country house. In the conversation, which was recorded by a radio amateur who happened to detect the call using a high-tech scanning device, Charles and Camilla joked about the then-prince's wishes for an even closer relationship:

Reception

The general consensus following the publication of the tapes was that Charles had embarrassed the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

. According to Diana's bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, in his book, ''Guarding Diana: Protecting the Princess Around the World'' "The backlash was savage. Establishment figures normally loyal to the future King and country were appalled, and some questioned the Prince's suitability to rule." Wharfe also stated that Diana was shocked by the scandal, which prompted her to repeatedly state "It's just sick". The publication of the conversation led

William Rees-Mogg William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg (14 July 192829 December 2012) was a British newspaper journalist who was Editor of ''The Times'' from 1967 to 1981. In the late 1970s, he served as High Sheriff of Somerset, and in the 1980s was Chairman of ...

, editor of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', to suspect that

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

could be behind the scandal. Shortly before, two other recordings of telephone conversations involving members of the royal family had appeared in the press: one between Diana and her lover James Gilbey (which became known as Squidgygate), and another between

Prince Andrew Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger broth ...

and his wife

Sarah, Duchess of York Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson; 15 October 1959), also known by the nickname Fergie, is a British author, philanthropist, television personality, and member of the extended British royal family. She is the former wife of P ...

. Rees-Mogg stated: The publication of the tape and its repercussions were featured in season 5 of the TV series ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

''.

References

Bibliography

* {{Queen Camilla Political scandals in the United Kingdom Royal scandals in the United Kingdom 1993 in the United Kingdom Telephone tapping Charles III Queen Camilla