Light reign and sunny disposition
JI KNOW this isn’t the most tasteful speculation right now, but I’m sure it must be on a lot of people’s minds. Not least that of the lady I’m talking about, the Duchess of Cornwall, below. Because how exactly is she going to cope with being Queen?
Most pundits are solely concerned with the Prince of Wales’s future role. Will he be able to stop interfering, letting us know what he thinks about the PM’s latest pet policy, as he did with Rwanda? Or accepting cases crammed with charity cash from dubious foreign dignitaries?
But no one’s speculated on Camilla’s feelings about ascending to the throne. She’ll be Queen Consort, not the reigning monarch, but even so she’ll have a heck of a lot on her plate. And she’ll be 75 this month.
Good grief!
Yes, the Queen’s 96 but she’s used to it. How does Camilla view the prospect of her sunset years, opening hospitals and hostessing garden parties? It must surely be a different dotage to the one she expected.
Indeed, her predecessor has been a saint, a model of self-sacrifice and duty. But Camilla’s a very different kettle of fish. Her early days were uproarious and hedonistic; she loved smoking and drinking, hunting and fishing, and sharing bawdy jokes with her pals.
And for heaven’s sake, she could be in her 80s before she gets the top job, with no prospect of early retirement. Poor Prince Philip was 95 before he could put his feet up.
Perhaps Camilla will look to a different role model, one less saintly than our present monarch.
How about the Queen Mother? Like Camilla she adored her gin and tonics, and spent her days having long liquid lunches with her besties at Clarence House, happily running up a huge overdraft at Coutts, the royal bank. That sounds more like Camilla. Queens just wanna have fun.
I love Camilla and I think she’ll be a marvellous Queen; funny and warm, a boisterous old lady who’ll keep the nation jolly, tipping us the occasional naughty wink when she thinks Charles is getting too big for his boots.
I’m looking forward to it actually... eventually. Although, God willing, not just yet.