September 18, 2022 – 19:54 BST
Kate Thomas
Queen Consort Camilla recalled the sweet moment Queen Elizabeth II put her at ease on her wedding day with King Charles III in a heartfelt pre-recorded speech broadcast on the eve of Her Majesty’s funeral
Queen Consort Camilla has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II in a moving pre-recorded speech, broadcast on the BBC on Sunday evening.
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The 75-year-old wife of King Charles III‘s words were aired just before a national two-minute silence, scheduled at 8pm on the eve of the late monarch’s funeral. Camilla recalled how the Queen put her at ease on her 9 April 2005 wedding day to Charles, revealing her mother-in-law’s sharp sense of humour saw her through an embarrassing shoe mishap.
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WATCH: Queen Consort Camilla’s heartfelt tribute to Queen
She said: “I remember coming from here, Clarence House, go to Windsor the day I got married when I probably wasn’t firing on all cylinders [and was] quite nervous.
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“For some unknown reason, I put on a pair of shoes and one had an inch heel and one had a two-inch heel. Talk about hop-a-long! There’s nothing I could do. I was halfway down in the car before I realised and she could see and laughed about it and said, ‘Look, I’m terribly sorry.’ She had a good sense of humour.”
A day before the speech was broadcast, a snippet of Camilla’s kind words about her late mother-in-law was released.
The Queen Consort paid tribute to her late mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth II
The Queen Consort said: “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.”
She also spoke about how the Queen forged her own path in what was a male-dominated world at the time.
“She’s been part of our lives forever,” she explained. “I’m 75 now and I can’t remember anyone except the Queen being there.
Camilla pictured on her 2005 wedding day to the then Prince Charles
“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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Before her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen endorsed the then-Duchess of Cornwall to be known as Queen Consort when the time came, branding it her “sincere wish”.
She called upon the public to back both her daughter-in-law and Charles when he eventually became King.
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