The Queen Consort has paid tribute to her late mother-in-law in a televised tribute. The interview was aired just before the nation’s minute silence this evening.
Camilla spoke about how the Queen ‘carved her own role’ as a ‘solitary woman’ in an often male-dominated world. The Queen Consort notes how Elizabeth has ‘been part of our lives forever’, a similar statement that many across the world would agree with.
The Queen cuts a cake with Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall and Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge at a reception in celebration of The Big Lunch initiative held at The Eden Project in Cornwall, during the G7 Summit, June 2021.
The new Queen Consort discusses the boundary the Queen made between public and private duties, stating that having the boundary is ‘very important’ and equally important to have ‘private passions’.
She talks how Scotland was where the Queen got the most ‘enjoyment’. The Queen and her family spent many summer holidays at Balmoral, her Scottish residence. The Queen also undertook a week of engagements in Scotland known as Holyrood Week which featured engagements such as Ceremony of the Keys.
Camilla said: ‘Although she was probably working with her red boxes, throughout she could have her family to stay and she could do the things she loved’.
Scotland was also the country where the Queen passed away peacefully on 8th September.
While Scotland was a favourite, Camilla said, her ‘real passion was racing’, where ‘she was able to escape to Sandringham’ to see her foals and discussing racing horses for the year. The Royal Studdery is located at Sandringham, where horses are bred.
Speaking about the Queen’s passion of horses and racing, Camilla says no one would ‘dare question her or argue with her on how a horses bred, or how it ran, because you would get a very steely, blue-eyed look back again’.
“She’s got those wonderful blue eyes that when she smiles, they light up her whole face. I’ll always remember that smile, you know, that smile is unforgettable.”
– Her Majesty The Queen Consort pays tribute to Her Majesty The Queen: pic.twitter.com/Txlzr6NGHG
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 18, 2022
Camilla then recalled her wedding day to Prince Charles where something didn’t go to plan but was a clear example of the Queen’s ‘unusual’ but ‘good sense of humour’.
‘For some unknown reason I put on a pair of shoes, and one had an inch heel and one had a two inch heel, talk about hopping, there was nothing I could do. I was halfway down before I realised and she could see it, she laughed about it’.
Camilla also recounted how she had the privilege to take the Queen to see some of the charities that she herself supports, including the Ebony Horse Club, and Medical Detection Dogs
‘It was real genuine enjoyment and she asked lots of questions and it was very nice to take her to things which I knew she would enjoy’.
The Queen and Camilla visit with the Medical Detection Dogs in 2018. Photo courtesy of The Royal Family
The Queen Consort concluded her tribute by saying how the Queen had the most ‘wonderful blue eyes, that when she smiles you know they lighted up her whole face’.
On the eve of her Accession Day in February, the Queen stated it was her ‘sincere wish’ for the then-Duchess of Cornwall to be known as ‘Queen Consort’ when Charles became King.
In his own message for the Queen’s Accession Day earlier this year, The Prince of Wales (as Charles was then) recognised the importance of his late mother’s words, stating that he and Camilla are ‘deeply conscious of the honour represented by my mother’s wish. As we have sought together to serve and support Her Majesty and the people of our communities, my darling wife has been my own steadfast support throughout’.
