An intriguing, in-depth documentary about Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall (pictured right), was broadcast by Channel 4 last evening. It dealt principally with her prospects of becoming Queen Consort when Prince Charles becomes King.

The programme ranged widely over her life, and included some prurient material, clearly leaked beforehand to attract viewers who might not otherwise watch.

The most startling claim was that Clarence House fed negative stories about other Royals to the press with the intention of making Camilla seem fragrant by comparison. The mastermind behind these assaults is alleged to have been Mark Bolland, Prince Charles’ former press secretary. Bolland, who now runs his own PR firm, might well regard some of the statements as actionable. They were certainly not helpful to the Royal Family.

The main purpose of the documentary, though, was to assess the Duchess’s chances of becoming Queen. It concluded, quite reasonably, that by law she will be in any case, and that Charles is determined that she will. Various experts and talking heads gave their views and most concluded in favour.

The ever-present Christopher Wilson even suggested that she will play a Queen Mother-like role to Charles, in that she is a calming influence and gives stability to him in much the way that Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons did for the highly-strung George VI.

Wilson’s opinion was that Charles is not capable of being King without her, and that Camilla could become the rock of the Monarchy, as was the late Queen mum.

Why then didn’t Charles marry her sooner when he had the chance? It seems there were physical reasons to prevent a match back in the 1970s when Camilla’s previously rich romantic life was seen as a bar to her being Queen.

Overall, this was an excellent stab at summarizing the riddle of Camilla’s long relationship with the future King. One unspoken thought emerged from it, though. If Charles needs a strong, faithful rock of stability by his side to succeed as Monarch, how on earth would Diana have coped with that role?