The Duchess of Cornwall is back to work after her summer break and is as busy as ever; yesterday, Camilla carried out three new engagements in London.
Starting the day, Camilla visited the newly refurbished facilities at the Victory Services Club. Upon her arrival the Duchess was greeted by army veterans who were members of the club and discussed with the officers the important of raising mental health awareness in the Army. Founded in 1907 to promote ”esprit de corps” among retired members of the Armed Forces, the Club now has 64,000 members.
Still at the Victory Services Club, the royal visitor joined a celebratory tea dance to mark the 90th anniversary of the British Dance Council in conjunction with The Royal Osteoporosis Society, a charity of which the Duchess is president. Set up in 1929, the British Dance Council was formed as the Official Board of Ballroom Dancing.
The Duchess of Cornwall meets young dancers at the Victory Services club (Clarence House)
During the event, The Duchess of Cornwall danced with Len Goodman, a Strictly Come Dancing judge, who said: “It was my favourite kind of dance. Holding a lovely lady and having a nice little shuffle around. She had great rhythm. It was lovely dancing one-on-one with her.”
The Duchess takes to the dance floor with former Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman ?? pic.twitter.com/0aMAIi8iFR
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) September 5, 2019
Camilla also watched dance performances by Andrey Chernov and Kristyna Fatuliaj, nine and 10 years old, and by Mark and Olga Elsbury, current British National and the UK professional Ballroom Champions.
In a speech, the Duchess said: “I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this morning. I love dancing. I have a grand-daughter who is passionate about it and maybe we will see her on Strictly one day.”
“I just wanted to say as president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society, how important dancing is for our bones. If we could get a lot more people onto the dance floor we would be able to do a lot of good for osteoporosis. It’s that sort of exercise that improves your bones. Encourage your friends to keep dancing.”
Later in the day, The Duchess of Cornwall visited The Royal School of Needlework to launch their exhibition ‘Faces & Figures in Stitch’ at Hampton Court Palace. Camilla is their patron.
The RSN was founded in 1872, to create bespoke commissions, as well as restoring historical textiles and heirlooms. They were responsible for the lace used on The Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, and even made The Queen’s Coronation robe.
Camilla at the Royal School of Needlework (Clarence House)
In the ‘Faces & Figures’ exhibit, there will be over 100 embroideries in our new exhibition, including key historic personalities, and familiar faces of today such as Henry VIII, William Shakespeare, Nelson Mandela and David Bowie.
There, the Royal viewed a hand embroidered portrait of herself, which was created by the RSN’s expert Embroidery Studio using the historic Blackwork technique.
About the portrait, Dr Susan Kay-Williams, Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework said: “Our Embroidery Studio team worked hard on the preparation, firstly choosing the right image and then sampling the stitches beforehand.”
We are delighted to announce that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, Patron of the Royal School of Needlework, will be visiting us at Hampton Court Palace on Thursday 5 September. @ClarenceHouse #RSN #RoyalNeedlework #RoyalSchoolofNeedlework #handembroidery #embroidery pic.twitter.com/OISjbCnCI2
— Royal Needlework (@RoyalNeedlework) August 21, 2019
She added: “The image chosen was from a photograph taken of The Duchess during her first visit to us in November 2017. We are delighted that The Duchess of Cornwall is able to view the finished piece up close and that we can also share it with visitors to our new exhibition.”
This 2017 was Camilla’s visit to the RSN with The Duchess of Gloucester in 2017; Birgitte is the organisation’s president.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is joined by The Duchess of Gloucester, President of the Royal School of Needlework, meeting staff and students and see the innovative and beautiful hand embroidery work being created. Picture by Andrew Parsons / i-Images
2 comments
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