1 week Ago By Sean Mandell
Queen Camilla has shared an update on her health after contracting a chest infection that forced her to step aside from royal duties. Camilla, 77, spoke about her ongoing recovery on Tuesday during a reception for The Booker Prize Foundation at Clarence House, the royal residence a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace where she and King Charles III live despite the palace being the monarch’s official residence. The event was Camilla’s first official royal engagement since the palace announced on Nov.
5 that the Queen was canceling all of her upcoming commitments so she could rest and recover from a chest infection. “I’m obviously getting much better, bit of sort of coughing going on,” the Queen could be heard saying in a video recorded at Tuesday’s reception shared on X by DailyMail royal correspondent Rebecca English. The Queen added, “I really wanted to come.
” “I’m on the mend, these things always take a bit of time to get rid of. You think you got rid of it, they just sort of hang on for a bit,” Camilla said in another clip while speaking with American author Percival Everett, whose book “James” is among those on the shortlist for this year’s Booker Prize. Camilla continued, “But hopefully, I’m on the mend now.
It’s nice to see you again.” A staunch literacy advocate, the Queen has been a longtime supporter of the Booker Prize, which held its annual awards ceremony in London Tuesday night. In 2021, during the height of the COVID pandemic, the royal consort created The Queen’s Reading Room , a charity that works to celebrate and promote the power and benefits of reading and help more people find and connect with books which enrich their lives.
The charity was first known as The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room but changed its name after King Charles’ ascension to the throne. Despite the Queen’s sunny disposition at the Booker Prize event, she will not be walking the red carpet alongside King Charles at the premiere of “Gladiator II” in London on Wednesday, Buckingham Palace has revealed. According to People , Camilla is staying home “as a precaution” while she attempts to avoid added strain as she eases back into public life.
Camilla ended up missing last weekend’s Remembrance Day events , including the annual ceremony at The Cenotaph war memorial in London, owing to her illness. The Queen had hoped she would be well enough in time for the events, honoring those who have fallen in service of their country, but the palace confirmed on Saturday that she needed to continue to rest and recuperate. King Charles and Queen Camilla have been busy in the past month, only recently completing a royal tour of Australia and Samoa in October.
Camilla’s health battle comes on the heels of a year full of medical woes for the royal family. In February, King Charles announced he was diagnosed with cancer, only to be followed by the Princess of Wales, aka Kate Middleton, sharing her own cancer diagnosis in March..
