So why IS Camilla missing the wedding?
There’s room for 850 guests at Eugenie’s big day, yet the Duchess will be at a Scottish school instead. Are long-held tensions with Andrew to blame?
The pupils of Crathie primary school have long cherished their proximity to Balmoral, the Royal Family’s home from home in Scotland.
In days gone by, the Queen Mother used to send Princess Margaret’s birthday cake for the children to share, and each Christmas every pupil — there are currently only 12 — receives a gift from the Queen.
But tomorrow, as the focus turns to the wedding of the Queen’s granddaughter, Princess eugenie, in Windsor, there promises to be a day of equal excitement for this tiny school, just across the River Dee from the castle.
For rather than joining her husband Prince Charles to witness the marriage of his niece to wine merchant Jack Brooksbank, the Duchess of Cornwall will be fulfilling a longstanding commitment to visit the school.
While many will see the Duchess’s action in putting duty before pleasure as commendable, others are baffled. even locals who prize their close bond with the royals admit that while they are thrilled to have captured the presence of Prince Charles’s wife, they are also somewhat surprised.
‘We are used to seeing the royals out and about — they are part of the Crathie community — and frankly they could drop in at any time,’ says one figure.
‘I don’t think anyone would have been too startled if the engagement was cancelled because of the wedding.’
For the Royal Family, Camilla’s absence from St George’s Chapel risks becoming an unwelcome distraction for a wedding which is already facing criticism over the £2 million cost to the taxpayer for police and security.
Inevitably, her decision to remain in Scotland at Birkhall, the retreat she and Charles share on the Balmoral estate, has led to speculation that other reasons may have been behind it.
It is understood she and Charles, who will return to Scotland after the postwedding lunch and miss the black-tie dinner being thrown by his brother, Prince Andrew, at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, are hosting a weekend house party at Birkhall.
FRIENDS insist there is no calculated snub and it is just due to an unavoidable clash of dates. I can disclose that Camilla sent a handwritten letter to eugenie apologising for being unable to attend. In it, she explained that she had committed to visit a local school and did not want to let the children down.
‘Yes, she has guests coming, but that has nothing to do with her not going to the wedding,’ says a close friend. ‘She is fond of eugenie and her sister Beatrice, and is very disappointed that she cannot be there.’
however, it is no secret that she is not close to the girls’ parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York.
You would have thought the two women’s shared experiences as royal outsiders might have brought them together. Indeed, both women were pointedly not invited to Prince edward’s wedding to Sophie Rhys- Jones, also in Windsor, in 1999.
But if Camilla has little time for her fellow Duchess, there is also a coolness between her and Andrew. According to insiders, she feels that the Duke of York did not speak up for her and Charles when they were battling to get royal acceptance for their relationship after Diana’s death. ‘Camilla has always felt Andrew could have done more,’ says a close figure.
‘The Queen listens to Andrew and he could have helped his brother at a time when he had few allies within the family.
‘In fact, I would go so far as to say he was deeply unhelpful when support would have meant a huge amount to her and the Prince.
‘Looking back to when there was little public sympathy for Charles and Camilla, if not open hostility, it was a case of Andrew playing politics. Camilla hasn’t forgotten.’ her absence reveals how confident she has become. not long ago, she wouldn’t have dared miss such a high-profile family event (she was at harry’s wedding in May, of course).
Prince Andrew, meanwhile, is under fire over the spiralling costs of his daughter’s wedding to the public purse. eugenie and Jack’s carriage ride through the streets of Windsor after the church service is being blamed because of the need for extra security. Although shorter than the route taken by harry and Meghan, it requires considerable manpower.
even some royal officials are uncomfortable at the size of the growing bill for the wedding of a member of the Royal Family who does no public engagements.
They have wondered why eugenie did not follow the low-key template of the weddings of Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall — both grandchildren of the Queen, who also don’t do official duties.
Friends of Prince Andrew insist that as an HRH, and along with her sister the only ‘ blood’ princesses of their generation, eugenie’s wedding is in line with royal tradition. ‘It is also entirely in character with Andrew,’ says a courtier. ‘he has no hesitation saying: “Don’t forget that I am the son of the sovereign.” ’
eugenie and Jack have chosen the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle for their official wedding photographs.
These, of course, will be hugely significant because in all likelihood they could include the Duchess of York — for so long not welcome at royal events — posing alongside Prince Philip. (If, indeed, Philip is there. Yesterday, there were reports that the Duke, 97, may not attend the wedding. It was claimed he would ‘wake up and see how he feels’ on the day.)
It would be the first time the pair have been pictured together in 26 years. Philip has studiously avoided Fergie since paparazzi photographs of her sunbathing topless were published by a red-top newspaper in 1992.
AFTER the pictures have been taken, the Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the Royal Family will have lunch.
At the same time, the remaining guests will arrive for the reception in three of the castle’s State apartments, the Grand Reception Room, the Garter Throne Room and Waterloo Chamber.
The royals will then join the reception, with Prince Andrew observing his father-of-the-bride duties with a speech.
The Queen and Philip are due to leave at 2pm, followed soon after by the bride and groom.
The reception ends at 3pm, but many will be back for the evening party at Royal Lodge, the home which Andrew still shares with ex-wife Sarah.
For those still standing, a third celebration will take place at Royal Lodge on Saturday.
While the champagne is chilling for the wedding, the excitement is growing at Crathie school.
‘The children are very keen to show the Duchess around the school and to share the excellent work they have been engaged in this term,’ says headteacher Mrs Lilian Field.
One suspects that is just the kind of razzmatazz Camilla is looking forward to.