I know Charles will take great comfort in having warm Camilla with him – she is the ideal consort, says Arthur Edwards
AS King Charles III takes on the daunting role of head of state, I know he will take great comfort in having his loyal and supportive wife Camilla by his side.
I’ve photographed our new monarch for 45 years but he truly comes alive when he is with the new Queen Consort.
Together the pair bring out the best in each other, and in every snap you can see their unshakeable bond.
The King said it best himself during his declaration to the Accession Council yesterday.
After contemplating the “heavy responsibilities of sovereignty”, he said: “In all this, I am profoundly encouraged by the constant support of my beloved wife.”
Camilla will be steadfast in her support of her husband over the next few months. She will give the same strength that Prince Philip gave to his wife Queen Elizabeth II.
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Camilla is devoted and dedicated and, maybe most importantly, in the toughest of times she will be there ready to cheer him up with a joke.
She understands that her husband faces challenges walking in the footsteps of our greatest ever monarch.
There will be difficult decisions and questions he must face about the survival of the Commonwealth and about .
There will be a huge adjustment from Prince to King without his “darling Mama” guiding him.
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But Camilla will be there.
When they are on their own she will comfort him, counsel him, assure him and steady him.
She is already proving to be the perfect consort.
When the couple arrived at Buckingham Palace and greeted the waiting crowds on Friday, she understood that this was her husband’s moment.
Leading lady
As the new King received kisses and cheers from the crowd, she stood back, happy for him to take the lead.
That said, she can be determined too. When the couple attended the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, one of the organisers asked her to sit elsewhere.
She replied, firmly: “I am going to sit next to my husband.” She was not moved.
It is this balance and support that King Charles will need, especially during the transition over the next few weeks and months.
Camilla has been on a remarkable journey, both personally and in the eyes of the public.
Many blamed her for the breakdown of Charles’s marriage to Diana.
After the tragic death of the princess in 1997, both saw their popularity drop to an all-time low.
When they were married eight years later, courtiers let it be known that when Charles was crowned she would become Princess Consort, rather than Queen.
Of course, there would be a change of heart. In February, the Queen announced her intention for Camilla to be known as Queen Consort.
It was the ultimate seal of approval and an astonishing turn-around. Camilla had gone from the “other woman” to leading lady.
And just as the nation took Camilla to their hearts, so did the Queen.
She admired her duty and service. It is hard to believe that before entering the Royal Family, Camilla had not held a job.
Now she has one of the toughest public roles in the country, and these days she happily performs more than 200 royal engagements a year, at home and abroad.
Aged 75, when most would be putting their feet up, she is taking on the biggest role of her life.
Truth be told, Camilla doesn’t much care for travel or the extreme heat of foreign climes. But she does it all for Charles with a smile on her face.
When I finally managed to coax her on to the dance
Arthur Edwards
floor she joked, ‘Let’s go on Strictly - don’t tell my husband!’
Their love has been a constant for him. After 17 years of marriage he still refers to her as “My darling wife”.
I know how much she adores him too. When I appeared as a castaway on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in 2011, I spoke fondly of Charles, then the Prince of Wales.
After it aired, she wrote to me. It was a lovely letter confessing that she was in “floods of tears listening to the wonderful things you said about my husband”. It was typical of her kindness.
When I had a knee operation, the first flowers to arrive were from Camilla.
And when I followed her and Charles to Ireland earlier this year — while most of the Press pack opted to go to the Caribbean for Will and Kate's trip — she made a point of coming over to say: “Thank you for supporting us, Arthur.”
I replied: “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” It was the absolute truth. I always look forward to every day I’m working with her.
While always professional, Camilla also has a great sense of fun.
In 2017, she dropped in on a tea party and swing dance run by the Royal Voluntary Service.
When I asked her to dance, she initially declared: “I don’t have my dancing shoes on. Why don’t you ask some of the others?”
But when I finally managed to coax her on to the floor, she joked: “Let’s go on Strictly, don’t tell my husband!”
I remember her first walkabout, at Sandringham flower show in July 2004.
She was so nervous, but because of her warmth, people instantly took to her and she was overwhelmed by the support.
Perfect partners
Despite her aristocratic upbringing, she has a common touch and stopped the royal staff curtsying to her in private.
I’ve not heard a journalist from the royal pack say a disparaging word about her.
And she turned around the public’s opinion simply by being herself.
She loves chatting to ordinary people, often getting engrossed in conversation when the royal party is meant to be moving on.
It is these human touches that have led people to love Camilla more and more.
It was not achieved by a cynical PR campaign from the Palace. She has done it her way, the nice way, slowly and calmly winning people over.
She also cares about the causes close to her heart. And she really does go the extra mile.
In 2009, Yvonne Traynor wrote to Camilla looking for somebody high profile to raise awareness of the Rape Crisis centre she runs in Croydon, South London.
She was not hopeful of a reply but was stunned when it emerged Camilla wanted to visit.
When the day came, Camilla went in the centre’s back entrance and met every woman there.
I have also admired her tireless work to improve literacy. She even has her own Instagram-based book club called The Reading Room and encourages young people to read to the elderly.
Reading is a passion she shares with Charles. Just like the countryside.
At home they work on their flower beds together — he wheels the barrow, she does the planting.
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They are perfect partners, both publicly and privately.
However long or short Charles’s reign, his Queen Consort will be by his side supporting him in every way.