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    1. Celebrity
    2. Royals

    One Unexpected Royal Bride Once "Roared Around the United States on a Motorcycle" While Wearing "Leathers," Says Royal Biographer

    "She managed to tread the fine reputational line between being considered fun or written off."

    Amy Mackelden#039;s avatar
    By Amy Mackelden
    Published 18 July 2026 In News

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    Princess Kate wears a white coat dress and has long brown hair, she laughs as Queen Camilla, wearing a black and white patterned dress, points and Queen Elizabeth holds a large knife
    (Image credit: Oli Scarff - WPA Pool / Getty Images)
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    Some members of the Royal Family live with the palace's strict rules their entire lives. However, many individuals who have married into the clan lived completely normal—and sometimes quite unexpected—lives beforehand.

    In the new royal biography, Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles, royal author Catherine Mayer discusses a pretty surprising detail regarding Queen Camilla's life before marrying King Charles.

    "As a debutante and young woman about town, she had managed to tread the fine reputational line between being considered fun or written off as a slapper," Mayer writes. "Even so, she racked up too many life experiences...to be considered an appropriate partner for Charles."

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    Instead, Princess Diana was deemed as an "appropriate" bride for Charles, whom Mayer notes was viewed as "the 'sweet-charactered' virgin bride."

    While both Camilla and Diana might have ridden horses, there's one hobby the latter likely didn't partake in, writes Mayer. Per the author, "[Diana] would not, however, roar around the United States on a [motorcycle], in leathers, as [Camilla] also chose to do."

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    Divide and Rule

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    Queen Camilla wearing a diamond butterfly brooch in 2006

    "[Diana] would not, however, roar around the United States on a [motorcycle], in leathers, as [Camilla] also chose to do."

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Clearly, Queen Camilla lived quite a varied and dextrous life before she married into the Royal Family.

    Since her leather-wearing biker days, Queen Camilla has carved out a role all of her own as a senior royal.

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    "Even intimate gatherings with [Queen] Elizabeth retained their protocols and formality," Mayers shares. "Camilla's is a more relaxed presence, warm, though she shivers in the frigid temperatures her husband maintains, rolling her eyes like a schoolgirl as he asks for another window to be opened and once confiding that she was wearing thermal underwear."

    Queen Camilla wearing a blue dress and laughing in the garden at Hillsborough Castle

    "She racked up too many life experiences...to be considered an appropriate partner for Charles."

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Queen Camilla might not have ridden on a motorcycle in quite some time, but it's fascinating to find out that she once embarked on a thrilling journey—kitted out in leather.

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    Weekend Editor

    Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.

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