The yin to his yang

I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla. “In recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage seventeen years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort.

“I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.” So said King Charles in September, 2022.

Throughout the eventful months since King Charles’s public declaration, his beloved Queen Consort has been the embodiment of his words. Loving. Loyal. Steadfastly devoted. Constantly reliable.

It is clear that Queen Camilla has thrived in both her private and public roles, just as Charles always knew she would.

The late Queen Elizabeth, too, eventually fully endorsed Camilla both privately and publicly, formally honouring her daughter-in-law’s dedication to royal duties with the prestigious title, Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

Months before Charles’s declaration, she expressed her “sincere wish that, when the time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”

Queen Camilla remains the dependable rock supporting her husband, now navigating a worrying journey of treatment and recovery after his recent cancer diagnosis.

Tucked away at Sandringham, his Norfolk country retreat, they will find the estate’s gardens, parkland and wildlife the perfect sensory antidote, while his doctors deal with his medical needs.

With all practicalities met by their devoted staff, Camilla will be able to concentrate on doing what she does best; being the calming voice of reason, encouraging his rest and raising a smile with that famous sense of humour.

The queen has her work cut out; Charles is a notorious workaholic, habitually working late into the night.

Even though his public-facing duties have been suspended for the immediate future on the advice of his doctors, he will still be dealing with work behind the scenes, including the daily red boxes of state papers and weekly audiences with the Prime Minister, albeit by telephone.

“[Camilla] is his rock, and I can’t actually emphasise that enough. She is completely loyal and she isn’t somebody who has huge highs and lows,” says her sister Annabel Elliot, in Robert Hardman’s recently publ