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Tag: duchess camilla

  • Meet Queen Camilla’s Children

    Meet Queen Camilla’s Children

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    Camilla Shand married British Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973. She had already dated and broken up with Prince Charles, but they remained friends. So, it raised a few eyebrows when the couple asked Prince Charles to be the godfather of the first child, Thomas Henry Charles, born December 18, 1974. Their daughter, Laura Rose, completed the family when she was born on January 1, 1978.

    “People blame their upbringing for everything, but my childhood—and my sister’s—was absolutely idyllic,” Tom said in an interview with The Telegraph. The couple raised their children on large, shabby-chic estates in the Wiltshire countryside. According to Queen Consort, they were very close to Camilla’s sister Annabel Elliot’s children, Ben, Alice, and Catherine. While Andrew was often away for work, Camilla was a lively, hands-on, easy-going mother. “Don’t worry, darling,” Tom once recalled her saying whenever he got in trouble.

    According to Angela Levin, author of Camilla: From Outcast to Queen Consort, the children loved when Prince Charles, who they called “Sir,” would come to visit. “I’ve always adored my stepfather; he’s always been kind and good and a lovely man,” Tom has noted, per Camilla. “He is a man of warmth, intelligence and humanity.”

    But occasionally the children were part of the dramas enfolding their parents’ lives, even if they didn’t know it. According to Penny Junor’s Queen Consort, Diana, already aware of Prince Charles and Camilla’s continuing relationship, firmly vetoed Tom serving as a page at their 1981 wedding. Prince Charles relented, and Tom instead attended the ceremony with his mother, according to Queen Consort, standing on his seat at times for a better view.

    This innocence would be shattered in the early ’90s, when Prince Charles and Camilla’s affair became a worldwide scandal. “When it first started we thought it was entirely normal growing up to have five or six paparazzi hanging around—we would go up there with binoculars and say, ‘Oh, look, Mummy, there’s five today,’” Tom once recalled, according to Queen Consort. “They’re bullies…and they made you very angry. When you were 15 or 16 and you’re coming out of an airport and they were really winding you up, all I wanted to do was smack them in the face and beat the hell out of them. But you couldn’t do that.”

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    Hadley Hall Meares

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  • Hugo Vickers Has One Piece of Advice for King Charles

    Hugo Vickers Has One Piece of Advice for King Charles

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    Thirteen months after King Charles began his reign, writer Hugo Vickers has one small complaint: his majesty’s oft-reported plan to see a more slimmed-down monarchy might be unrealistic. “I don’t know who’s going to do all the work!” Vickers said in a recent interview. “People either want celebrities or they want the royal family, and they’d have a much better deal out of the royal family. I can assure you celebrities are very demanding and not very reliable.”

    For nearly half a century, the biographer and broadcaster has been a premier observer of Britain’s aristocracy as it adjusted its traditions and worldviews for the modern age. In the 1970s, he tracked down the reclusive Duchess of Marlborough in a psychiatric hospital and turned what he learned over two years of conversations into a biography, reissued in 2021 as The Sphinx: The Life of Gladys Deacon – Duchess of Marlborough. Ever since, he has documented the royals and their orbit in their highs and lows, even seeking Prince Philip’s personal recollections for a biography about his mother, Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece. His relationships with courtiers and understanding of the royal family’s day-to-day life have given him a unique point of view on the challenges that King Charles has faced as he ascended to the throne.

    Along with his books, Vickers has become a lecturer who interprets the history and symbolism of the monarchy for Americans, and it’s turned him into one of the institution’s most committed and visible defenders. This weekend, he will be a marquee speaker at the debut edition of the Empire State Rare Book and Print Fair. Founded by Eve and Edward Lemon of Fine Book Fairs, the event will fill midtown Manhattan’s St. Bartholomew’s Church with over 50 exhibitors and a slate of events aimed at getting a generation of young people excited about collecting. In conversation with writer and auctioneer Nicholas Nicholson, Vickers will discuss his views on the future of the monarchy and the legacy of the late queen.

    In an interview before he traveled to New York, Vickers said he knows that promoting a hereditary monarchy might seem outdated, but he’s seen its benefits up close. “I know it’s unfashionable to promote anything being hereditary as opposed to on merit, but it does have its great advantages, because there’s a humility that goes with that. The queen was tremendously aware that she wasn’t there except by accident of birth,” he said, adding that he thinks King Charles has taken a similar approach. “I think it works very well. You wouldn’t invent it, necessarily, but it’s there.”

    So far, he is giving Charles positive marks for his performance as king, emphasizing his energy and the success of his trip to Germany in March and France in September. “I think he’s doing a good job—and his two state visits abroad so far have been immensely successful,” Vickers said. “He is a real workaholic. He doesn’t really eat lunch. He has a big dinner in the evening, but he’s at his desk most of the time.”

    Vickers notes that the job of monarch is time-consuming. “It’s a bit like being the CEO of a company. The trouble is, as you know, when you get to the top, you spend your time administering rather than doing what you necessarily want to do. You have to deal with so many problems,” he said. “He’s taken on a lot at this age. Suddenly the boxes are coming and he’s got to get through them, and he does it.”

    But along with the busywork comes a lot of responsibility. Vickers cited one event as an example of the power a monarch must possess in order to do their job. Days after a tragic fire in Grenfell Tower killed 72 people in June 2017, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William traveled to visit the survivors. “When she went to [visit the victims], in a sense what she did was to bring with her all the other places that she’d been to where there’d been great tragedies, like Aberfan and Dunblane,” he said. “She wasn’t doing it for political purposes, she was comforting her people, her nation, if you like.”

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    Erin Vanderhoof

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  • Queen Camilla’s Son Defends Her Motives in Marrying King Charles

    Queen Camilla’s Son Defends Her Motives in Marrying King Charles

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    In Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, he singles out his stepmother, Queen Camilla, for particular criticism, implying that she plotted to become queen. In a recent podcast appearance, Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles has disagreed with Harry’s characterization and emphasized that she married King Charles III for love.

    “I don’t care what anyone says—this wasn’t any sort of end game,” Parker Bowles said on The News Agents, a podcast hosted by journalists Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel. “She married the person she loved and this is what happened.”

    In Spare, Harry calls Camilla a “villain” and describes the aftermath of his and Prince William’s earliest meetings with her, the details of which eventually wound up in the press. “Shortly after our private summits with her, she began to play the long game,” Harry writes. “A campaign aimed at marriage, and eventually the crown, with Pa’s blessing we presumed.” In January, an insider told Vanity Fair that Camilla was “astounded” by Harry’s allegations. 

    Sopel and Maitlis also asked if it was strange to think of his mother as a queen. “Not really because she’s still our mother,” Parker Bowles said. “I say ‘our’ but not the royal ‘we’, speaking for my sister and me. She’s our mother.” Camilla had Tom and his sister, Laura Lopes, when she was married to her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles.

    Parker Bowles also spoke about the upcoming coronation, which will include his son Freddy Parker Bowles as a page alongside Prince George. “I don’t think he knows quite how big it’s going to be, I don’t think he has a sense of the occasion,” he said of his son. “He’s a 13-year-old boy who loves football.”

    He noted that his mother might be anxious but hasn’t complained about the task of the coronation. “I think anyone would be anxious on an occasion of this sort of importance in terms of the historical. And yes, I think I’d be terrified if I had to sort of walk out wearing ancient robes…” he said. “She’s 75, but you know, it’s tough to do it. But she’s never complained. You just do it. Get on with it.”

    Parker Bowles is a food writer and cookbook author, so naturally he had a few opinions about the coronation menu, which will feature a spinach “coronation quiche” invented for the occasion by royal chef Mark Flanagan. “He’s a really, really good chef,” he said. “So, I wouldn’t dare start telling him what to do.” 

    On the other hand, he is not fond of coronation chicken, the dish that was designed for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953. “What happened over the years is it became this awful, turgid, sad, sort of gloopy mess, yellow, horrid. I mean coronation chicken done badly is appalling,” he said. “And I think what started off as something quite nice and probably quite exotic for the ’50s has now become something really horrible.”

    Listen to Vanity Fair’s DYNASTY podcast now.

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    Erin Vanderhoof

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  • Queen Consort Camilla Was Reportedly “Shocked and Dismayed” About the New Roald Dahl Editions

    Queen Consort Camilla Was Reportedly “Shocked and Dismayed” About the New Roald Dahl Editions

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    On February 17, The Telegraph ran a splashy exposé documenting the edits and redactions that went into a new edition of the late author Roald Dahl’s books for children. Their articles pointed out that descriptions of characters as “fat” were removed, for example, citing a rhyme in James and the Giant Peach where a character, at first called “terrifically fat,” was instead described as a “nasty old brute.” Though Dahl’s works are not universally beloved, they remain a nostalgic favorite for adults, and that sentiment, along with the implication that the new editions were a form of censorship, inspired an impassioned discourse. On Thursday, Queen Consort Camilla might have entered the fray when she made comments about censorship and the value of imagination during an event.

    During a speech at a rescheduled reception celebrating the two-year anniversary of her book club, she implored her audience to value freedom of expression and seemingly referenced the end of Dahl’s The Witches, where the protagonist is transformed into a mouse. “Please remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination,” she said. “Enough said! Let there be no squeaking like mice about your achievements, but only roaring, like a pride of lions.”

    According to the Independent, a source close to Camilla said she was “shocked and dismayed” to hear that Dahl’s books had been altered and thought that the freedom of writers needed to be preserved.

    On Friday, Dahl’s British publisher announced that they would continue selling previous editions of the books alongside the newly edited ones. Puffin, a children’s imprint, will sell the new editions, while its parent company Penguin Random House will offer 17 of Dahl’s books in The Roald Dahl Classic Collection. “We’ve listened to the debate over the past week which has reaffirmed the extraordinary power of Roald Dahl’s books and the very real questions around how stories from another era can be kept relevant for each new generation,” said Francesca Dow, Penguin Random House Children’s managing director. “By making both Puffin and Penguin versions available, we are offering readers the choice to decide how they experience Roald Dahl’s magical, marvellous stories.” 

    The Thursday event was the queen consort’s first public appearance after she tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. She mentioned her illness during her speech at the event. “Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, it is a huge pleasure to welcome you all—writers, publishers and book lovers—to Clarence House. A week late, but COVID-free!” she said. “So thank you for rejigging your busy diaries and coming today.”

    Listen to Vanity Fair’s DYNASTY podcast now.

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    Erin Vanderhoof

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  • Queen Consort Camilla Sends Book Donations to Rwandan Library She Visited Last Year

    Queen Consort Camilla Sends Book Donations to Rwandan Library She Visited Last Year

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    In the middle of a busy week, Queen Consort Camilla found some time to send a personal message to a place she visited last year. On a visit to Book Aid International’s central warehouse in London, she signed a special note to send, along with donated books, to the Kigali Public Library, which she toured during her trip to Rwanda with King Charles III for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last June. 

    “This comes with my warmest wishes to everyone at Kigali Public Library, whom I so enjoyed meeting last year!” read the note on Clarence House stationery. She added an extra handwritten note that read “with all my best wishes,” and signed the page with her new royal signature, Camilla R. 

    Book Aid International sends more than one million titles to refugee camps, schools, hospitals, and libraries around the world, and during her visit, Camilla got to help volunteers pack books for a shipment, including labeling one with a self-inking stamp. She also spoke to Paul Boateng, a member of the House of Lords. According to a palace statement, Lord Boateng benefitted from the charity’s books as a child in Ghana and now serves as its vice-patron.

    Later, she traveled to Coram Beanstalk, a charity that provides one-on-one reading tutoring, to celebrate their 50th anniversary. She listened to a series of readings, and then cut into a cake to celebrate the student winners of a national writing competition for children in foster care. In 2018, the late queen was on hand to open the organization’s Queen Elizabeth II Centre, funded in part by the Queen’s Trust, where Camilla visited Thursday.

    Though Camilla visited the charities as a part of her work promoting literacy in the UK, she has been equally busy with other duties. On Tuesday she posed for a photo with the Grenadier Guards, one month after becoming the famed battalion’s new colonel. On Wednesday night she was joined by King Charles III, Prince Edward, and Princess Anne at a Buckingham Palace reception to celebrate the contributions East and Southeast Asians have made to the arts, healthcare, media, fashion, and business in Britain. 

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    Erin Vanderhoof

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  • “To Remember and To Listen”: Camilla, Queen Consort Delivers Heartfelt Speech About Domestic Violence

    “To Remember and To Listen”: Camilla, Queen Consort Delivers Heartfelt Speech About Domestic Violence

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    During a reception at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, Camilla, Queen Consort brought together three Queens from around the world and Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska to raise awareness about violence against women and girls.

    The Queen Consort was joined by Queen Rania of Jordan, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Queen Mathilde of Belgium in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace where the royals posed for photographs before Camilla took to the podium to give her most important speech yet in her new role. 

    “We are uniting today to confront, rightly, what has rightly been called a global pandemic of violence against women. Faced with such challenges, it can be hard to know what practical steps we can take to even begin to make a difference,” she said, elegant in a cream frock coat and wearing her reading glasses. “Over the years, in my previous role, I had the privilege of meeting many survivors of rape and domestic abuse; and of sharing in the sorrow of people who had lost family members to violence. And again and again, I heard that two of the most powerful ways in which to help were to remember and to listen.”

    Among the VIPs in attendance were Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Health Secretary Steve Barclay, domestic violence campaigner Spice Girl Mel B and the First Lady of Sierra Leone Fatima Bio as well as Sophie, Countess of Wessex. Some 300 guests, including representatives from the Queen Consort’s charities were also at the event which coincided with the United Nations’ 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. 

    Also present were many survivors of violence, and the Queen Consort made a point of naming some of the women who tragically did not survive. “We remember those women who have lost their lives at the hands of a stranger, or of the person who should have loved them best. In so doing, we refuse to be desensitized by cold facts and figures and we resolve to keep the names and the memories of these women alive.”

    The issue of domestic violence, which affects one in three women globally, is one Camilla is passionate about. She is now the most high-profile woman in the world raising awareness about what she said Tuesday was “vital work.” 

    Zelenska has been highly supportive of the Queen Consort’s work and speaking at the reception via a translator said, “It means a lot to be here. We now face a huge amount of rapes of Ukrainian women and children by Russian soldiers. This afternoon I will have the honour to speak in front of the Parliament of the UK. The youngest victim of rape (in Ukraine) is four and eldest is 85. When the efforts of the democratic world unite to combat challenges like this, it always gives hope that we will win.”

    The Queen Consort also invited a number of women who have lent their support to the cause including Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland who she met with, TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, presenter Fiona Bruce, reality TV star Zara McDermott, who has spoken about her efforts to end “revenge porn” and radio presenter Emma Barnett.

    The Queen Consort has been working with charities supporting women including SafeLives, Women’s Aid and Refuge for over ten years and is committed to breaking down the stigma around the issue and victims of rape, assault and domestic violence. 

    Speaking to Vanity Fair, SafeLives CEO Suzanne Jacob said they were honored to have Camilla’s support and that her global spotlight has made violence against women a headline issue rather than a stigma. “There is a positive choice that the Queen Consort is making in bringing these people together and having this conversation. She wants to put this at the centre of the leadership she shows, not just in this country but around the world. This has put rocket boosters underneath this issue. There are many survivors in this room and she wants to listen to them and hear their stories. She is giving them a voice. We know that an event like this today will get worldwide attention so it’s a privilege to have her work with us. I am hugely appreciative.”

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    Katie Nicholl

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  • Kate Honors Diana in Her First Tiara Moment as the Princess of Wales

    Kate Honors Diana in Her First Tiara Moment as the Princess of Wales

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    It was the first state banquet of King Charles III’s reign, but on Tuesday night Kate Middleton and Queen Consort Camilla proved that royal watchers will still get to see a few of Queen Elizabeth II’s most beloved pieces. At a Buckingham Palace banquet for the state visit of South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Kate wore the Lover’s Knot tiara, which Princess Diana frequently wore, and a bracelet that used to belong to the late queen. She looked every bit the princess in a white Jenny Packham gown with a cape and metallic details on the shoulders. Camilla rewore the blue Bruce Oldfield gown she debuted in Rwanda earlier this year, amping up the glamour with the late queen’s sapphire tiara and a matching necklace.

    Both women also wore the yellow Royal Family Order with the image of the late queen. Kate wore the star and blue sash of the Royal Victorian Order, fastening it with a diamond brooch. According to Lauren Kiehna, who writes The Court Jeweller, she first debuted the Art Deco brooch at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony earlier this month. Sophie, Countess of Wessex, wore the aquamarine tiara that she has worn occasionally since 2005, which also converts into a necklace.

    Kate’s neo-classical pearl and diamond tiara is an homage to a long line of royal women. According to jewelry historian Leslie Field, Queen Mary first commissioned it from the jewelry company Garrard in 1914, and it became a part of Queen Elizabeth II’s collection upon her death in 1953. In 1981, she began loaning to Princess Diana, who wore it to various banquets and state dinners throughout her lifetime. On Tuesday, Kate paired it with a bracelet that once belonged to the queen and pearl-drop earrings that were once Diana’s. Camilla’s sapphire necklace was a wedding gift from George VI to the late queen, who later commissioned the tiara to match.

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    Earlier in the day, the Royal Family social media accounts shared images and footage of preparations for the event, the first state dinner to take place since before the coronavirus pandemic. They noted that foliage for the decorations had been sourced from the gardens at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. The last time the family opened up the jewelry vault for a state visit was in June 2019, when Donald Trump made a controversial trip to the country.

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    Erin Vanderhoof

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