How Queen Camilla is soldiering on, supporting King Charles — and practically ruling solo

The Queen has been left solo — but her unique sense of humour, voracious reading and sartorial choices are helping her hold the fort. Photo / Getty Images

The King is recovering from hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate, the Princess of Wales is convalescing at home, and the Prince of Wales is focused on supporting his wife and taking care of their three children. That leaves just one woman standing: Queen Camilla, holding the fort.

In line with medical advice, the King is expected to be lying low for about a month. The Princess of Wales is not expected to return to royal duties until Easter, when she is fully recovered from abdominal surgery, although she may be able to do some work on her early years project from home in the meantime. A source said the Prince of Wales will resume public duties once his wife is settled at home.

This means the 76-year-old Queen — who has been out and about every day this week — is practically ruling solo, with support from the other “women of Windsor”, the Princess Royal and the Duchess of Edinburgh. Who better to keep the show on the road?

In a break with royal tradition, the King has been remarkably open about his diagnosis and treatment, and in a similar vein, the Queen signalled her support for her husband publicly when she accompanied him to The London Clinic last Friday and visited him each day he was in hospital to keep him company. Typically, senior royals have avoided personal hospital visits and maintained business as usual.

There was no better place for her to be than at the King’s bedside. The Queen has a unique ability to cheer the King up and “soothe his occasional irascibility”, according to The Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey. “That’s always been one of Camilla’s key strengths,” a palace insider previously told this newspaper. “She keeps him calm and makes him laugh.”

The ever-capable Camilla has ploughed on with a busy schedule of public engagements, too. On Wednesday, she opened a new Maggie’s cancer support centre at the Royal Free Hospital in London. She promised to pass on well wishes for the King, who she said is “getting on” and “doing his best”.

Queen Camilla leaves The London Clinic where King Charles was treated for an enlarged prostate. Photo / AP

Comfy shoes make her day

The secret to smiling in the face of a never-ending list of engagements? Comfortable shoes. “Camillla has found a way to dress elegantly for royal engagements without sacrificing on comfort. You’d never see her in a spindly stiletto — all her shoes tend to have the same sensible low block heel, which the late Queen Elizabeth relied on into her 90s,” says Bethan Holt, Telegraph fashion director and author of The Queen: 70 years of Majestic Style.

“She favours British brands like Sole Bliss, Eliot Zed and Russell and Bromley, whose shoes and boots are crafted to withstand long periods of standing while looking good, too,” Holt adds. “The Queen’s long-time dresser, Jacqui Meakin, works with a small circle of designers including Anna Valentine and Fiona Clare, to source outfits which will make Camilla feel effortlessly good.

“Just this week, she debuted a new embroidered jacket by Clare for an event at Windsor Palace which is bound to have imbued confidence at a time when she was undoubtedly still concerned about her husband’s recovery from surgery. The Queen often wears dresses by British label Me and Em, which cuts its frocks to be flattering but not restrictive.”

The King, who is a notorious “workaholic”, is said to be keen to get back to public duties as soon as possible. It is his wife who is a grounding influence, encouraging him to slow down — as she has been doing for the past decade.

“It’s sometimes a struggle to keep up with him,” a source previously told The Telegraph. The Queen herself previously told the BBC programme Prince, Son and Heir that she had tried to encourage her husband to “pace himself”, but conceded he is too driven to take any notice.

King Charles III with Queen Camilla leaves The London Clinic on January 29, 2024 in London, England. The King has been receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate, spending three nights at the London Clinic and visited daily by his wife Queen Camilla. Photo / Getty Images

Safe pair of hands

A double royal health blow presents unprecedented circumstances. But the Queen’s approach is nothing different to her usual attitude of stoicism and hard work coupled with good humour. “She has a great twinkle, and it comes out very readily… it puts people at their ease very quickly,” said Lady Lansdowne, a close friend of the Queen’s, in a recent BBC documentary about the coronation year.

This sense of humour has been demonstrated this week, despite it being a worrying time for the family. At a reception held at Windsor Castle on Tuesday for an array of leading authors, she raised a laugh when she joked that her eyesight had deteriorated as a result of working on a miniature book for the Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House as it celebrates its centenary.

Indeed, as a voracious reader and the patron of several literary charities, relaxing with a good book (with or without a gin and tonic, said to be her favourite tipple) is one of the ways the Queen takes care of her wellbeing when faced with a busy and demanding schedule. Another is riding or walking, either at Clarence House or the private Wiltshire residence she has owned since the mid-1990s — although it is doubtful there is much time for a countryside retreat at the moment.

A tight-knit inner circle of friends and family is also key. The Queen can count on the support of her “Queen’s Companions” — the six close friends chosen to serve as a replacement for the traditional “ladies in waiting” — her two children, and five grandchildren. “She is regularly seen wearing a necklace bearing her ruby birthstone and the initials of her five grandchildren which must be a reassuring talisman for the Queen to wear when she’s feeling out of comfort zone,” says Holt.

Not long ago, it would have seemed impossible that the Queen would be running the show solo. And yet she has proved she is a very safe pair of hands.