♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, charles and camilla. the once-scandalous relationship -- >> prince charles was seen as the villain who had ruined the fairytale marriage by having an affair. >> the other woman now queen consort. >> it wasn't set in stone that the public would ever accept her. >> the couple united in leading the nation into a new era. plus "the woman king." >> we fight not just for today but for the future. >> oscar winner viola davis leads a black, mostly female cast in this action adventure. >> there is no white savior in the movie, none. we're the ones leading this narrative. >> based on real women warriors

in 19th century africa. davis says it's a love letter to dark-quined black women. >> i want all these women to be seen. and final curtain. why "phantom of the opera's" hunting days are nearing an end. big news on broadway's longest-running show.

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, the long and complicated relationship between charles and camilla. it seemed they were once star-crossed lovers, even despised. now why the king and his queen consort may get their happily ever after. here's my "nightline" coanchor juju chang. >> reporter: king charles iii solemnly standing guard over his mother's casket as he assumes the mantle of responsibility that comes with being sovereign. but he was once one half of the world's most famous couple. his marriage to diana spencer thought to be the stuff of fairytales until it blew up in spectacular fashion in a love triangle that rocked the world.

>> he was seen as the villain who had ruined the fairytale marriage by having an affair. >> reporter: and the so-called third person in the marriage? camilla parker bowles. for so long the subject of ridicule and scorn. >> as far as diana was concerned, the central reason for the collapse of her marriage was camilla parker bowles. >> reporter: charles and camilla, their relationship once a national scandal, eventually became an enduring love story. >> i think that camilla is actually quite remarkable, being the mistress of prince charles when he was prince of wales, to now being a fully fledged queen consort. >> reporter: and now the new king and the queen consort leading a nation as it mourns the death of its monarch of 70 years. >> you can see the two of them supporting each other all the way through this very busy schedule. they're obviously going to be the most marvelous team. >> reporter: tonight, the unlikely tale of the king and his queen consort. how they went from infamy to acceptance, even admiration.

>> it's the most enormous challenge to come to terms with the fact tat your mother has died and that you are king. and without doubt, the king has lifted himself to this responsibility with incredible dignity. >> his job at the moment is to lead the nation in mourning. so it is something much bigger than just him and his family. >> reporter: during her long reign, queen elizabeth rarely showed emotion, always mintaining composure in public. >> king charles iei has always been quite an emotional character. the queen has always been imper durable. >> reporter: this week, flashes of that emotion from the new king, including this moment of frustration over a leaky pen in northern ireland. camilla swooping in to calm the flustered king. >> and the look that she gave him was the look of an indulgent mother to a child. almost saying, "now, now, dear, calm down." i think that's going to be her central job, to gentle and calm

this rather volatile, pedigreed stallion. >> reporter: camilla has long been seen as the person charles most relies on. those who know her say she is warm, down to earth. >> people around the world couldn't understand why prince charles had chosen to have an affair with this woman rather than this glamorous humanitarian, diana, princess of wales. >> camilla keeps charles grounded. she's very family-oriented. i don't think she ever sought the public role. that wasn't where she wanted to be. but this is the role that she's ended up doing for the man that she loves. >> reporter: she was born camilla shand. from a young age, she ran in royal circles, meeting prince charles when she was 24, he was 16 months younger. they fell in love, seen here dramatized in the hit series "the crown." >> what we have is special.

>> i know. but i wasn't supposed to fall in love with you. >> reporter: but fate and the royal family had other plans for the man then known as the playboy prince. >> when charles was a bachelor, the thinking was, find an anglo-saxon, aristocratic virgin. >> they had very strong feelings for each other, but circumstances meant that they couldn't get together, they didn't get together. >> why didn't camilla and charles get married? the simple reason is that charles was in the navy, he went off to the south seas as part of his duties, and in the meantime, camilla was dating a man that she was very much in love with. >> reporter: in 1973, camilla married andrew parker bowles. charles remained a close friend and was godfather to their first son, tom. one biographer wrote camilla helped charles pick lady diana spencer as his future bride.

charles and diana's wedding in 1981 was a fairytale. but their marriage was far from perfect, and camilla cast a long shadow. >> the reality is charles and diana were not really suited for each other. the marriage was over very early on. i don't think their marriage really had a chance with camilla in the picture, though. >> reporter: a month after prince charles and diana announced their separation, there was camillagate. a secretly recorded phone call surfacing. camilla and charles, both still married to others, professing their love for each other in quite intimate language. >> he talks about her being the only person that brings him joy at times. and i think you really hear in those conversations the stress of being prince of wales coming out. >> reporter: diana's tragic death in 1997 cemented the public sentiment on one thing -- at least at the time -- camilla could never marry charles. >> i think the perception of camilla in the '90s was the

classic "other woman" trope. she was deeply unpopular for a long time. >> but she never, ever complained or moaned. and she kept her head down. and just let him get on with his life, and she got on with hers. and you know, at the end of the day, that worked. >> the queen was understandably very tentative about camilla in the beginning. she was a divorcee, everyone knew she and charles had been carrying on an affair while he was married to diana. >> reporter: but as the years passed, the royal family began to welcome her into the fold, including diana's sons, william and harry. >> she's a wonderful woman, and she's made our father very, very happy, which is the most important thing. >> i think the way that william and harry welcomed her into their father's life was absolutely crucial. and it was done with such natural enthusiasm and love. >> reporter: gradually, the public began to accept her as well. >> it wasn't set in stone that the public would ever accept her, and she's had to do an enormous amount of hard work in

order to change that perception of herself. >> reporter: by 2005, more than seven years after diana's death, charles and camilla married. >> did he get down on one knee to propose? >> she's great fun. very down to earth. terrific company. devoted to her husband. and i felt enormously confident that they would be popular as they went out and about. >> and i think she is now one of the most professional royals we've got, one of the most -- one of the most popular. i think i can say that even if you don't approve of the institution, i defy anybody not to be charmed by certainly a smile from the late queen, certainly a smile from the king, if you get one from the queen consort, you don't forget it. >> reporter: before she died, the queen officially gave her blessing for camilla to be named

queen consort. >> the late kqueen knew there ws a bit of controversy about the king's wife. and she wanted the king's reign to start well. and she knew that she had a great deal of authority, and she used that by saying what she wanted to happen. >> reporter: king charles will need his wife's support as he takes on the enormous responsibility and scrutiny of being king. >> king charles, he's now 73. he's had a mistress, but he's married to diana, great rancor, bitterness, he'd fallen out with his son, prince harry. but the british are a pretty forgiving lot. and people can see that he's been very much in love with camilla and that they are a real couple who work together and probably good for each other, and ultimately good for the monarchy. >> i think a lot of people now have got kind of comfortable with her presence. and i think she's really kind of entering now into this new era of queen consort, being kind of

above the drama that she's been a part of in the past. and obviously now married for 17 years, well-established in the royal family. >> reporter: tonight, the new king standing vigil at his mother's coffin alongside his siblings. but his true partner may be the woman most believed would never be queen. >> our thanks to juju. coverage of the queen's funeral begins at 5:30 a.m. eastern on monday. we'll be back in london as well. up next, "the woman king." why viola davis says her new movie is a love letter to dark-skinned black women. when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis persists... put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable,... i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. check. when uc held me back... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc got the upper hand... rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining.

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♪ viola davis' new movie "the woman king" covers new ground for hollywood production. it stars a mostly black, mostly female cast and is directed by a black woman. the movie is inspired by little-known chapter of african history. it's already generating oscar buzz. here's abc's deborah roberts. >> the woman king. >> reporter: viola davis is truly cinematic royalty. captivating audiences for decades. from her oscar-winning turn in "fences" -- >> don't you think i had drimts and hopes? what about my life, what about me? >> reporter: to her emmy-winning role in the abc show "how to get away with murder." >> that's what it costs to change the world. >> reporter: it's her latest film -- >> we fight not just for today,

but for the future! >> reporter: "the woman king," she calls her magnum opus. >> there is no white savior in the movie, none. we're the ones leading this narrative. >> reporter: the movie, set in the 1800s, tells the remarkable story inspired by true events of the igoge, an elite, fearless squad of all-female military warriors protecting the african kingdom of dehomey from slave traders. >> most people will not know about this story. what led you to fight to tell this story? >> you've never seen anything like this. nobody believes that black women can lead a story and lead a global box office. we need to normalize it. because you have no idea what the fight is, just to be an artist, a black female artist, and a dark-skinned one.

people throw terms out all the time. why can't you do a romantic story? why don't you do a, b, c story? well, if you don't think i want to do that? but what's so wonderful about this is we get to be humanized. >> you look like a regular old woman to me. >> reporter: davis stars as general naniska, leader of the women and titular woman king. >> i am a general, i have earned it. you have earned nothing. >> reporter: training a new generation of female warriors. >> to be a warrior, you must kill your tears. >> tell me about the story of women. they were sort of throw-away women in a way. >> most of them were recruited between the ages of 8 and 14. so it was decided early on that, you know what, you're unwanted. because you're not beautiful. so when you enter the story, what's so magnificent is all of these women, all they want to do is matter.

>> reporter: the mostly black female-led cast includes south african actress tuso getou. sheila atum, and lashana lynch. >> did you ever pinch yourselves and say, wow? >> it felt incredible to be able to look around at the actors, the supporting artists, the crew. even just the overall environment, shooting in south africa. also, it didn't feel like i needed to be grateful to haveow make sure i savor every single moment because it's never going to happen again. there was an ease and a grace, knowing that this was going to be a shift, like a major shift in this industry and in this world. >> wakonda forever! >> reporter: it's not the just time the agoge warriors have been represented on screen. >> you're not fit to be a king! >> reporter: marvel's blockbuster "black panther" were

modeled from the agoge women. >> ready for war! >> this is a very physical movie. >> very physical movie. >> i'm watching you all. how tough was it, sheila? >> it was tough. but i think rightfully so. you get to really experience what we were experiencing in that moment, which is probably, you know, a significant degree of pain. >> and the training. five hours a day? did you really train for five hours a day? >> hour and a half of weightlifting. >> and i do 45 minutes and i'm almost crying. >> you want to see some tears. 3 1/2 hours of martial arts, weaponry, training, sprinting, punching, all of it. >> you have this sisterhood. you're supposed to have this bond on screen as women who are just going through it. and did you feel the sisterhood penetrating you as you're doing

this with your characters? >> yes. i think so. it was -- we joke about it. we say it's trauma bonding. it was shared pain, you know. shared suffering. shared hardship. but then we were able to keep each other going. everyone here is competitive. i'm not, but i had to. >> what? >> watch yourself. >> what? >> reporter: the film's world premiere at the toronto film festival was an emotional experience for davis and her 12-year-old daughter, genesis. this movie, for you to hand - this, in a way, to her or any other daughters out there, what was that like? >> it was everything. she said afterwards, she couldn't stop crying. she hugged me, she said, i'm so proud of you, mommy. and i keep telling her, genesis, beauty is wonderful. if someone tells you you're beautiful, all that warrants is a thank you. okay? your qualities are your

kindness, your quality is honoring that voice deep inside of you. that's the voice. that's your compass. all those are your value. still she's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, i know. >> reporter: davis says the film is also a love letter to dark-skinned women of color who have felt discounted and unseen. >> i always felt in my entire career, that i've always -- my aunt joyce was my prototype. she was probably 300 pounds. she wore big hoop earrings, the latest fashions. she was beautiful to me. and yet i never saw her on screen. never. and me not seeing her, for me, was, she's not worth being seen. i want all these women to be seen. it ain't about me, it's about this. even when i'm way, way, way, way gone, another 40 years from now

when i have no teeth, i could say that i was a part of a change. >> our thanks to deborah. up next, "the phantom of the opera." big news about broadway's longest-running show. ♪ the phantom of the opera is there ♪ does your plug-in fade too fast? try febreze fade defy plug. it has built-in technology to digitally control how much scent is released to smell first day fresh for 50 days. la la la la la. ♪♪ there it is. that ta-da moment. when you aren't just wearing that style. you're owning it. find the brands, value, and inspiration to own your style. at macy's. listen, i'm done settling. because this is my secret. i put it on once, no more touch ups! secret had ph balancing minerals;

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♪ finally tonight, after more than 30 years of lighting up the great white way, andrew lloyd webber's "phantom of the opera" is nearing its final curtain call.

♪ the phantom of the opera is there ♪ >> "phantom" will close on february 18th, about a month after celebrating its 35th anniversary. the musical which opened in 1988 includes classic hits like "the music of the night" and "masquerade" and "all i ask of you." it withstood recessions, 9/11, and a war. but was unable to bounce back after the pandemic, reportedly losing $1 million a month. and that's "nightline" for this evening. thanks for the company, america.