The Charles and Camilla roadshow | Royal | News | Daily Express
Jennie Bond, 3 August 2013
The Charles and Camilla Roadshow
Is it just me or does Prince Charles have a new spring in his step these days? The two of them have been keeping up an increasingly hectic pace as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh finally make concessions to their age. Now with William and Catherine out of the frame for a while as they concentrate on baby George, the focus is firmly on Charles and Camilla. And it's my belief they are both rather enjoying being centre stage.
Personally I have always liked the Prince, ever since my first television report about him on his 40th birthday when he took the mickey out of himself for talking to his plants. In the 25 years since then I've watched him struggle with the breakdown of his first marriage, incur public wrath over Diana's death and then dare gradually to hope that the country would come to accept the woman he should have married in the first place. Now at last the evidence is that they have.
Just look at the welcome Charles and Camilla have been given during a flurry of engagements over the past fortnight. Yes, there was a serious bout of baby fever going on but from Cornwall to Yorkshire the crowds who turned out to greet the couple seemed genuinely delighted to see them. They serenaded the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall with the chorus of Grandad, showered them with gifts for Prince George and several people felt the urge to go one step further.
"Can I give you a hug now you're a grandad?" asked Geraldine Kynaston in Bridlington.
"Of course," said Charles as the rest of the assembly applauded.
You only have to look at the pictures to see how at ease the royal couple are with one another. It's a far cry from their first, timid public outings in the dark days after Diana's death when they were understandably nervous about the reaction. Nowadays they're relaxed enough to show affection - as Prince Charles did on his wife's 66th birthday last month. When she was presented with a cake in Lostwithiel in Cornwall he dropped his regal pose, put his arm around her and wished her a happy birthday.
And they share a wicked sense of humour. They seem to have giggled their way around the country recently; and that kind of relaxed, uninhibited laughter is infectious and endearing. If you talk to any of Camilla's circle the same themes recur: "She's funny and down to earth - she makes you feel as if you've known her for ever," said an actor friend. "She's the least stuck-up person you could meet," says another.
They are aware too that for the monarchy to continue to enjoy the popularity it now has they have to keep it relevant and visible. So they've upped their workload. Between them they are now taking on around 800 events a year. Since their marriage in 2005 they've visited more than 40 countries - including high-profile trips representing the Queen during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Although she has no intention of abdicating the Queen is showing a new enthusiasm for handing at least partial control of the reins to her son and daughter-in-law. In May, Charles and Camilla accompanied the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to one of the grandest events in the royal calendar, the State Opening of Parliament. In November she will entrust them with a cause that's extremely close to her heart, the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Sri Lanka.
There was a time when few people thought Camilla could learn to enjoy such a public role. Perhaps to her own surprise she appears to have embraced her new destiny, encouraged no doubt by the warmth of the reception she now receives. When she was in St Austell five days before Prince George was born she said everyone in the family was waiting by the phone for news. And when the baby arrived she told people in Bugthorpe in East Yorkshire that Charles would be a wonderful grandfather: "He's brilliant with children," she said.
These mundane remarks are insignificant in themselves but they show the Duchess is at ease not only with her husband but with the public stage on which she will play out the rest of her life. For all the talk that the crown should skip a generation - something that was never going to happen - polls show public opinion has swung in Prince Charles's favour. A recent YouGov poll found 44 per cent of those questioned wanted him to be king compared with 38 per cent for Prince William. So will Camilla be Princess Consort as she has suggested? Well, the late Princess of Wales herself once told me: "Camilla always has been and always will be the love of Charles's life. She's been discreet and loyal and she deserves recognition."
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