A life of public duty and unseen good works – the Duchess at 75
AS THE Duchess of Cornwall turns 75 today, her public profile has never been greater. But despite an increasing workload as she prepares to one day become Queen Consort, aides say it is the work she does behind the scenes, the unseen acts of kindness, that perhaps best illustrate the real Camilla.
The Duchess is no great fan of showing up at events simply to be photographed, and hates talking about herself, according to those close to her.
Instead, she wants to know what she can do to help and is more than happy to get on with that privately.
Harry Parker, 38, a former captain in The Rifles who lost both his legs in Afghanistan aged 26, credits the Duchess with changing his life thanks to a candid private chat at a time when all seemed lost.
It was during his year-long rehabilitation at Headley Court, Surrey, that the Duchess, his battalion’s Royal Colonel, paid a solo visit to injured soldiers.
Mr Parker, the son of Gen Sir Nick Parker, former Commander of the British Army, gave her a print of a painting he had done on tour in Iraq in 2007.
The Duchess subsequently wrote to suggest he take some classes at The Royal Drawing School, co-founded by Prince Charles. He took her advice and has now gone on to be TRDS’s deputy director and director of education, as well as an author.
Royal sources say the visit to Headley Court was not out of the ordinary, and that the Duchess, who later inherited the role of Colonel in Chief of the Rifles from the Duke of Edinburgh, has long visited injured soldiers from her regiment, as well as writing to families of those who died. “She likes to do things,” one said. “She is someone who wants to know what she can actually do.”
Domestic violence is another cornerstone of the Duchess’s work in which she works quietly behind the scenes.
“She keeps in touch with many of the victims she meets,” one aide said. “She always follows up.”
Meanwhile, as president of Maggie’s, a cancer charity, she is on a personal crusade to visit every one of its 24 centres in the UK and three abroad.
The Duchess has let it be known she will carry on speaking about issues closest to her heart when her husband becomes King.
One particular aspect of violence against women which concerns her is that of coercive control.
In her only newspaper interview for her birthday, she told the Daily Mail: “You can have someone who appears such a charming individual, that nice, smiley man who is lovely to everybody... to your friends, to your family... And we all know one, don’t we?”
In an indication of how she envisages her role as Queen Consort, the Duchess has said she can only throw herself behind a cause if she truly believes in it and won’t be accepting patronages for their own sake. Closer to home, she is known among staff for remembering birthdays and anniversaries and giving her protection officers thank-you gifts. “Small things but remarkably thoughtful,” one said. “It is easy to see why they have such a loyal and long-serving staff.”
Only last week, the Duchess vowed to emulate her late father-in-law, the Duke of Edinburgh, by abiding by his motto to “look up and look out, say less, do more”.
We wish a very happy birthday to the Duchess of Cornwall, who turns 75 today. Last week, she told an audience that she admired the last Duke of Edinburgh and had made his philosophy her own: “Look up and look out,” it goes, “say less, do more”.
It is said that the Duchess dislikes showing up to things just to be photographed and prefers knowing what she can do to help and getting on with it privately – such as visiting injured soldiers from her regiment, The Rifles, and writing to the families of those who have died.
Such practical compassion is a tonic in an age in which some people prefer to talk endlessly about their lives rather than get on with living them. This is what millions of us value the monarchy for – its quiet, selfless devotion to duty.