Dutchess reflects on mother’s illness

The Duchess of Cornwall has said she would love to see more young people educated

about osteoporosis after reflecting on her own experience of witnessing her mother suffer with the condition.

The duchess said she remembers how a hug from a friend caused her mother’s rib to break.

She said: “My mother, I think, went to see everybody you could possibly think of and they all said the same thing – ‘Sorry, you’re old’.

“We just watched her shrinking before our eyes. It was terrible, because we didn’t know anything about it, so at some point we thought ‘well, is she making a great fuss about all this?’”

The duchess added that osteoporosis can be prevented but not cured.