Queen Camilla, an avid fan of Jane Austen, visited the author's former home in Chawton, Hampshire, where she was shown the iconic shirt worn by Colin Firth in the 1995 BBC adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice'. Upon seeing the shirt, she quipped, 'But he's not in it, that's a bit sad,' prompting a light-hearted response from Lizzie Dunford, director of Jane Austen's House, who replied, 'I know, that's sad, and it's not quite as damp as it was.'
Dunford explained the significance of the artefact, noting that the 1995 production was 'transformative' in bringing new audiences to Austen's work. Austen lived at the house from 1809 until her death in 1817, during which she wrote and published her six celebrated novels.
Meanwhile, Prince Charles was in Cumbria, visiting Tebay motorway services on the M6 to mark its 50th anniversary. He toured the farm shop and met apprentices in the butchery training scheme, as well as viewing the extensive cheese section at the only family-run service station in the UK.
Charles also visited Hutton-in-the-Forest, a Grade I listed house near Penrith, where he met local farmers and two families of Syrian refugees. Among them was Riyad Moussa, his wife Myassa, and their four daughters, who fled Aleppo after their home was bombed. Resettled in Carlisle in 2017, Moussa expressed his happiness in the UK, saying, 'I love it here because I came from war.'
