Highgrove party for a Duchess now firmly in people’s hearts
250 friends and members of the Royal family turn out for joyous 70th birthday celebrations
IT WAS a celebration fit, if not quite for a Queen, then certainly for a Duchess.
The Duchess of Cornwall has seen in her 70th birthday in fine style, with a party for 250 friends and family members at Highgrove: her second in three days.
Thrown in her honour by the Prince of Wales, the private party saw the Royal family show their support with guests including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
The Duchess’s own family naturally raised a glass to her landmark birthday which she has taken in her customary stride, jokingly telling schoolchildren last week that she was “hanging on to the last years of my sixth decade”.
Contrary to initial reports that she planned just a small family gathering, the Duchess has enjoyed two celebrations this week, honoured with an official reception at Clarence House this week among the great and the good.
There, former staff and representatives of her charities wished her a happy birthday, along with celebrities with whom she has shared several charity causes.
Joanna Lumley, Richard E Grant and Dame Maggie Smith were all photographed enjoying their time with the Royal couple, along with friends Kathy Lette and Paul O’Grady.
Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell, judges on one of the Duchess’s favourite television shows, Strictly Come Dancing, were also in attendance to share the “gossip” on the new series over drinks.
O’Grady was among those paying tribute to the Duchess’s transformation over the last 20 years, noting: “It’s taken a lot of guts, you know, it really has. She could have sat there watching daytime telly.
“But it’s like she’s embraced it, that’s it, she’s really embraced it and gone for it and all her charity work.”
By contrast, the Highgrove party last night was for close friends, with the Duchess’s sister Annabel Elliot, children Tom and Laura, and ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles, with whom she enjoys a famously cordial relationship, expected among the treasured guests for the evening.
Described as a warm family occasion, the party naturally included members of the wider Royal family, including the Prince’s siblings and their partners.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, though invited, remained at Windsor following a busy week with the Spanish State Visit.
Though the occasion was private, it has been reported as being organised by Michael Fawcett, the Prince’s former valet, and it was anticipated to be based in a marquee in the gardens of Highgrove.
The Prince was expected to rise to the occasion with fond words about his “darling wife”.
For those given to introspection, the party may have been a moment to reflect on the transformation in the Prince and Duchess’s relationship.
Two decades ago, the birthday weekend saw the Prince throw an Arabian Nights- themed party at Highgrove for the woman then still described as his “mistress”, in which their attempts to keep their relationship hidden had inspired one tabloid to proclaim them “gutless”.
Ten years later, a 60th birthday party, also at Highgrove, was greeted warmly, with The Sunday Telegraph claiming the couple’s “stock has soared”.
This year, the party was due to be nothing but pure celebration, for a couple largely embraced by the public.
The Duchess’s actual birthday is on Monday, and has been kept free of public engagements to allow her to spend time with her family.
Both the Prince and Duchess will return to official public duties on Wednesday, when they visit Cornwall for a series of engagements.
Earlier yesterday, Prince Harry and the Duke of Cambridge entertained crowds by playing polo at The Jerudong Park Trophy at Cirencester Park Polo Club.
The charity match, which saw the Royal brothers play on the same team, was in aid of The Household Cavalry Foundation, Walking with The Wounded and Centrepoint charities.