Camilla’s Country Life beats records – and Prince

CHARLES was famously said to have been irritated that Diana was more admired than him.

Now, it seems, his second wife is also more popular – at least with readers of Country Life.

When the Duchess of Cornwall guest-edited Country Life to mark her 75th birthday, she joked in an accompanying documentary that she wanted her issue to sell more copies than one edited by Charles.

Mark Hedges, editor of Country Life, said: ‘She whispered it quietly but the last time her husband guest-edited, it became the biggest selling issue in Country Life’s 125th-year history. I think she has a sneaking ambition to outdo him so we’ll have to wait and see how it goes.’

Now, the magazine has confirmed that Camilla has won, selling ‘a significant number – thousands – more magazines’ than the 60,000 sold for Charles’s issue.

The Prince’s 2018 edition was printed to coincide with his 70th birthday in 2018.

Paula Lester, managing editor and features editor of Country Life, said the sales figures for Camilla’s July 13 edition were still coming in but confirmed they were the highest in its history.

‘There was definitely a bit of husband-and-wife competition there,’ she added.

‘The Duchess took the task at hand incredibly seriously and applied herself with great diligence.’

Camilla’s issue, above, carried a front-cover photograph taken by the Duchess of Cambridge, an article on domestic violence in the countryside and a piece with Jeremy Paxman, who later revealed he had shared ‘sneaky ciggies’ with the future Queen Consort.

Camilla’s Jack Russells, Beth and Bluebell, were also pictured in the magazine’s ‘girls in pearls’ section.

Ms Lester added: ‘I feel that we pushed boundaries by talking about issues very close to the Duchess’s heart, such as domestic violence in the countryside.’