‘I was on a trip with Queen Camilla – she made a sad confession to me’
Royal expert Rebecca English recalls a candid moment with Queen Camilla during a royal tour, in which Camilla opened up about how she finds public appearances
Queen Camilla shared an insight into royal life(Image: Getty)
Queen Camilla made a “sad” confession during a royal visit to Canada. Royal expert Rebecca English has spent years travelling the globe chronicling the lives of the Royal Family.
However, early in her career, she was forced to cut short a royal tour to return home for a bathroom renovation. She described the situation as “juggling being a mum and working life”.
Speaking on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast, she revealed that Camilla, who was then the Duchess of Cornwall, caught wind that she would have to leave early.
English recalled: “She said, ‘I hear you’re leaving my tour to go and take the tiles off your bathroom,’ and she went, ‘Why isn’t your husband doing that?’
“And I looked at her and without thinking said, ‘Well would you trust your husband to take the tiles off the bathroom?’ Because I do speak my mind, and we both started laughing.”
Rebecca English was on a tour with the Queen(Image: Getty)
It was at that point the journalist suddenly realised that King Charles would hardly be getting his hands dirty with such household tasks. She continued: “I went, ‘Clearly your husband won’t be taking the tiles off the bathroom’.”, reports the Express.
“And she said, and I remember it so distinctly, she said, ‘Oh I’m really sad because I don’t think anyone realises how terrifying it is getting out of a car and there’s this huge sea of people, and cameras, and the flashes are going off, and it’s really helpful to me to see a few friendly faces I recognise that I can look at and focus on’.
“I thought, ‘God, this hasn’t been easy for you’. I know things didn’t start in ideal circumstances and people will have an opinion on that, but one of the things her friends have always said to me is that she never wanted this.”
The King and Queen are gearing up to travel across the Atlantic once more this week for a state visit to the United States. Buckingham Palace confirmed this weekend that the trip would proceed despite turmoil at a dinner attended by US President Donald Trump.
The King and Queen will be visiting the USA(Image: Getty)
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton descended into mayhem when a gunman opened fire on Saturday night. A Secret Service agent sustained injuries before a suspect was detained.
He has subsequently been named as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen. While there will be some modifications to the royal schedule, Buckingham Palace confirmed the visit will go ahead.
A palace spokesperson said: “‘Following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of Government, we can confirm the State Visit by Their Majesties will proceed as planned.
The King and Queen will be meeting Donald Trump(Image: Getty)
“The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the Visit getting underway tomorrow.”
Trump has been uncharacteristically critical of the UK in recent weeks, threatening to renege on trade deals and speaking out against Sir Keir Starmer’s government. He even questioned the strength of the “Special Relationship”.
The King is expected to use the four-day trip to bridge the political divides, even as the US capital remains on heightened alert following the incident at the weekend.
