CAMILLA: I know that home can feel like a prison for the lonely
So says the Duchess of Cornwall, speaking exclusively to the Mail, in a heartfelt personal plea for us all to reach out to our isolated elderly tomorrow – while two sets of friends across the generations reveal the joy it brings
This sunday, if you do anything, pick up the phone to an older person and simply ask how they are. That is the message being delivered by the Duchess of Cornwall, who says she had been left ‘ heartbroken’ by tales of pensioners who haven’t talked to anyone for more than a month, particularly during lockdown.
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Camilla says the Covid crisis has given her a new appreciation of her own family — her husband, the Prince of Wales, children Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes, and her five adored grandchildren.
But it has also made her even more determined to use her position to ensure that others aren’t left feeling helpless, undervalued and alone.
Camilla, who turned 73 in July, says: ‘i am of an age, that’s the thing to remember! i am technically an old person. so i am just trying to help my contemporaries who aren’t as lucky as me.
‘i have got family, children, a husband . . . i am so very lucky. But you see and speak to these people who haven’t talked to anybody for months. They just want to wake up in the morning and share things with people. Their day is waking up in the morning, having a cup of tea and watching the telly, then trying to read a book . . . but they just long for a familiar voice. Not even a familiar voice, really. Just a voice.’
shockingly, recent research suggests that more than a million older people go for more than a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member.
initiatives such as tomorrow’s silver sunday, the national day to celebrate older people, which is supported by the Duchess, are attempts to ensure that deeply saddening statistic is erased.
With social distancing restrictions still in place, silver sunday will be different this year, but participants are still being encouraged t o connect with older people on their doorstep, online, or over t he phone — or t hrough s ocially distanced tea parties and even a ruleof- six Zumba session.
SPEAKING about her i nvolvement, the Duchess — who is also royal patron of The silver Line, a helpline for older people, and President of t he Royal Voluntary service — says: ‘These are such strange times. The whole pandemic has been so peculiar.
‘ But i also think people have started to realise how many l onely people there are about.
‘i think i’ve seen a lot — and t hrough Covid i ’ ve certainly talked to a lot of very lonely people.
‘You suddenly realise when you pick up that telephone there is a person who hasn’t talked to anybody for an age and they are desperate to have a chat.
‘ Not about anything in particular, just about ordinary things — what’s going on in their life. Things that you take for granted.’
she also highlights the issues many pensioners forced to shield have faced during lockdown.
‘i was thinking the other day, if you hark back to the good old days — certainly in rural areas — if you had an old person living alone, the neighbours would be pretty good at looking after them.
‘You also used to get the village policeman. it was part of their daily duty to look in on people, go in and sit and talk to them.
‘But now it just isn’t like that any more. it’s very hard.
‘i think through lockdown people could see how difficult it was to be locked in, and people could start to see those neighbours who were sitting in on their own.
‘Your home should be your castle, but it can also be a prison for those who don’t have anyone to talk to.’
The Duchess also praises silver sunday in a video message to support the day.
‘as a member of silver sunday’s target audience, i can honestly say that it is a completely brilliant initiative,’ she says. ‘This year, of course, it will be very different, with most events taking place virtually rather than in the flesh. so silver sunday is more important than ever.
‘ its aim is to tackle the blight of loneliness that affects so many and which, very sadly, has increased significantly over the recent months of lockdown. i want to encourage everyone to take the time to remember the older generation on October 4.
‘Through doing so, you will make the most enormous difference to anyone who is feeling lonely this autumn.
‘in silver sunday’s words, “You will fill the day with silver linings and the promise of happy days ahead”.’