Queen Consort Camilla to remember Queen Elizabeth II in televised tribute before National Moment of Reflection on Sunday

The Queen Consort will pay a televised tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, recalling her “wonderful blue eyes” and saying: “I will always remember her smile.”
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Camilla, in pre-recorded words, will speak of how Queen Elizabeth II carved out her own role for many years in the “difficult position” of being a “solitary woman” in a male-dominated world.

“I can’t remember anyone except the Queen being there,” the Queen Consort will add, being among the majority of the nation for whom, until now, the Queen was the only British monarch they had ever known or could recall.

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The Queen Consort’s tribute to her mother-in-law will air on Sunday, September 18 – the eve of the Queen’s state funeral – on the BBC, shortly before the national minute’s silence at 8pm.

The Queen Consort has paid her own tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Chris Jackson/PA Wire.The Queen Consort has paid her own tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Chris Jackson/PA Wire.
The Queen Consort has paid her own tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Picture: Chris Jackson/PA Wire.

Camilla said: “She’s been part of our lives for ever. I’m 75 now and I can’t remember anyone except the Queen being there.

“It must have been so difficult for her being a solitary woman.

“There weren’t women prime ministers or presidents. She was the only one so I think she carved her own role.”

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Remembering the late monarch, Camilla added: “She’s got those wonderful blue eyes, that when she smiles they light up her whole face.

“I will always remember her smile. That smile is unforgettable.”

Elizabeth II delivered a masterstroke on the eve of her Platinum Jubilee in February 2022 when she endorsed the then-Duchess of Cornwall to be known as Queen Consort when the time came.

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It was a shrewd move from the monarch, in her twilight years, setting her affairs in order and ensuring as smooth a transition as possible.

It ended years of debate over what Camilla – Charles’s former mistress – would eventually be called.

Camilla was blamed for the breakdown of the prince’s marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, and, when news of their affair first came to light, she faced vitriolic criticism.

But in the decades after the Waleses’ divorce, the untimely death of Diana in 1997 and Camilla’s acceptance into The Firm, the public mood towards the former Mrs Parker Bowles has softened.

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