Speaking on The Daily Mail's Palace Confidential podcast, royal expert Robert Hardman recalled a reception at Clarence House where Queen Camilla was marking 40 years of the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
The organisation was “just a tiny little operation with a couple of volunteers” when she became involved, he said, and has since “grown and grown”.
‘I think you’re stalking me’
Mr Hardman said he had attended several events with the Queen and said hello to her at this particular one. She replied: “I think you’re stalking me.”
He added: “She’s great. She’s great fun.”
Raising awareness
The expert said the society was “incredibly close to her heart” as her late mother died with the condition. He noted that in one generation it has raised awareness to the point that thousands of people are now catching it early, and pointed out it affects one in five men too.
‘Cranking up the workload’
Mr Hardman said these events are “not just turning up and shaking a few hands and cutting a ribbon” – the Queen “gets stuck in”.
“She talks to everybody and she usually makes a speech and, you know, no notes and at an age when most of her contemporaries are either well or have retired or certainly thinking about it,” he said. “I think she’s cranking up the workload.”
Recent royal engagements
Last week, the King and Queen made a dramatic entrance to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, striding out of the Tardis at the beginning of the opening ceremony.
Before that, they presented awards during a visit to the first RHS Sandringham Flower Show. Camilla presented Her Majesty The Queen’s Special Award for Upcycled Container Gardens to a display called The Queen Bee, made from upcycled containers with tin-can bees and designed by Ingoldisthorpe Church of England Primary School.
