Princess Anne gives a rare insight into Queen Camilla and King Charles' relationship

While the Royal Family generally tend to keep quiet about the personal details of their relationships (except Prince Harry's Spare, of course) we do occasionally get an insight into royal life behind closed doors. 

In a new BBC documentary exploring King Charles' first year on the throne, Princess Anne has opened up for the first time about her sister-in-law Camilla's relationship with the throne—and King Charles. In Charles III: The Coronation Year, which aired on Boxing Day, the Princess Royal describes Camilla's effect on the King as "absolutely outstanding" due to her "understanding of the role"—despite not being a "natural" fit for the role. 

Princess Anne explains in the documentary: "I’ve known [Camilla] a long time off and on. Her understanding of the role and how much difference it makes to the king has been absolutely outstanding.

She then adds: "This role is not something that she’d be a natural for but she does it really well. She provides that change of speed and tone, that’s equally important."

Camilla’s sister Annabel Elliot also opens up about the King and Queen's relationship in the new documentary, describing them as “yin and yang”. 

She explains that: "[Camilla] is his rock, and I can’t actually emphasise that enough. She’s somebody who is completely loyal and she isn’t somebody who has huge highs and lows".

Annabel also reportedly added that while Charles and Camilla are “polar opposites” their relationship works “brilliantly” because they add value to each other’s lives in different ways, according to reporting from The Independent. 

The documentary offers a 'behind-the-scenes' look at how Charles and Camilla have adjusted to becoming King and Queen Consort, including unseen footage of dress rehearsals leading up to the official Coronation Day in May 2023. 

The BBC said the programme features "moments of great poignancy and humour" and offers a "unique perspective on the inner workings behind a defining moment which marks a new era in the history of the monarchy".

Simon Young, the BBC's head of history, and factual commissioning, said of the programme: "At the heart of this story is a man who is taking on the job that has always awaited him. Everyone wants to know how he takes on that challenge."

We do, of course, feel like we get an insight into the relationships between the royals, particularly between King Charles and Camilla, in The Crown season six. As a largely fictionalised account of events, it remains unclear how accurate The Crown is in terms of what really goes on behind closed doors. The Royal Family have declined to comment on the Netflix show (though there have been rumours that the late Queen used to watch The Crown at Buckingham Palace on a projector).

You can catch Charles III: The Coronation Year on BBC iPlayer now