The rise of Camilla and her clan

"Kate's a lovely girl," gushed her future mother-in-law last week in London. "We're very lucky." Surprisingly, it is Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, 63, who has become the closest royal adviser and mentor as Kate Middleton, 29, navigates the treacherous route from commoner to future queen, a path Camilla Parker Bowles traversed mostly solo when she married Prince Charles in 2005.