Punch a burglar? Quite right!
Camilla backs heroic pensioner and reveals grandchildren call her Gan Gan – but Charles always says she’s ‘my darling wife’ in fascinating documentary
WHEN octogenarian siblings George, Mary and Alice Dowling were invited to tea at Clarence House after bravely facing up to masked robbers twice in a week, they found a sympathetic listener in the Duchess of Cornwall.
Alice, 83, the youngest of the trio, revealed she had punched one of the burglars, to which Camilla replied, smiling: ‘Quite right. You gave as good as you got.’
The exchange, which is revealed in an extraordinary documentary to celebrate Her Royal Highness’s 70th year, shows the future Queen’s innate ability to connect with ordinary people.
It has often been said that Prince Charles is the Renaissance Man of the Royal Family, with a wide-ranging portfolio of interests including painting, architecture, organic agriculture and garden design.
But this rare glimpse of Camilla – in a programme that gained unprecedented access behind palace walls – shows that she, too, has an impressive range of skills.
In Florence, she is seen talking to a group of schoolchildren in rudimentary Italian. When one of them asks her to draw something, she picks up a pencil and sketches a remarkable likeness of a horse with just a few strokes.
‘That must have been difficult,’ an onlooker says. ‘It is without my glasses,’ the Duchess replies, quick as a flash. The ITV camera crew also follow Camilla walking her two Jack Russell dogs at Dumfries House, the magnificent 18th Century Palladian mansion in Ayrshire which was saved for the nation by a consortium of charities headed by Prince Charles – as well as a touching scene where the couple dance together.
Camilla is happiest when surrounded by her five grandchildren plus step-grandchildren Prince George and Princess Charlotte. ‘I’d recommend it to everybody,’ says the Duchess about being a grandmother. ‘It’s very nice as you haven’t got the full responsibility.
‘You can give them a wonderful time, spoil them, give them all the things their parents won’t allow them to have and then give them back again. They spot me occasionally on television. They rather tend to wave, and they expect me to wave back again.’ Her nephew Ben Elliot says: ‘Camilla’s magnificent with her grandchildren. She’s called Gan Gan.’
The programme, which follows her work for her 90 charities, also offers an enchanting insight into her marriage to the Prince of Wales. Charles constantly refers to her as ‘my darling wife’ and reveals that the couple try to link their patronages in order to work together. ‘My darling wife has been absolutely wonderful with all these charities and takes a huge interest,’ he says. ‘She does have a wonderful way with people. That’s the special thing, I think… She’s the best listener in the world, so she can get anything out of anybody and find out their life’s history in a very short time.’
The Real Camilla: HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is on ITV at 9pm tomorrow.