Queen Camilla’s first love Kevin Burke, who she met while she was a fun-loving debutante, has died aged 77
She is happily married to King Charles, but before the Queen’s Camilla love story with His Majesty began, there was another man who stole her heart.
I’ve heard the 76-year-old Queen may be plagued by nostalgia as I can reveal that her first love, Kevin Burke, passed away at the age of 77.
The couple met during the Queen’s halcyon days as a fun-loving debutante, where she was adored by a bevy of male admirers at the high society soirees she attended.
Mr Burke died earlier this month and the family asked for donations to the British Heart Foundation.
His funeral will take place in September.
Heartbreak: Queen Camilla’s first love Kevin Burke has died aged 77. The pair met during the Queen’s halcyon days as a fun-loving debutante
It is believed that young Milla Shand, as she was known, met Kevin, Hawker Siddeley, then 19-year-old son of aircraft manufacturer Sir Aubrey Burke’s deputy chairman, shortly after their 1965 coming-out party in Knightsbridge.
What followed was a whirlwind of glittering soirees set against a Swinging Sixties backdrop where, at seventeen, Mrs. Milla Shand was the life and soul of the party.
Though their affair was short-lived, Mr Burke spoke fondly of his former flame as he reminisced about their time together in Jessica Jayne’s bio: The Duchess of Cornwall, Their History and Secrets.
“Every night we had two or three cocktail parties and on weekends in the country we had a dance and a few dances to choose from,” he revealed.
“It was the most fun and I had the best and funniest partner anyone could ask for.” “Camilla was immensely popular and while she wasn’t a beauty, she was attractive and sexy.”
In fact, Milla was so popular that it wasn’t long before she dumped Mr. Burke, leaving him heartbroken.
Young Milla Shand (Camilla, right) is believed to have met Kevin shortly after her coming-out party in Knightsbridge in 1965. Pictured: Camilla with her mother Rosalind Shand in 1965
Fun: Describing his relationship with Camilla before their love story with King Charles (pictured) began, Kevin said: “It was the most fun and I had the best and funniest partner anyone could ask for.”
“I stayed with Camilla all year. I suppose we were in love and then she left me. Why? “Well, the short answer is that she had a lot of fun in London,” he revealed.
She later married her first husband, former Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles, in 1973, with whom she had two children, Tom and Laura. They divorced in 1995.
After becoming a chartered accountant, Kevin Burke finally settled down at the age of 42.
His first marriage, to advertiser Peta Baker, lasted 14 years and ended in 2001.
He then married former headhunter Luisa Fairey, with whom he became a father for the first time at the age of 58.
At the time, he said, “It was unexpected, but I’m a lucky guy.”
Kevin is survived by his “very beloved” son Max.