Camilla, Queen Consort’s Tragedy

When visiting the newly opened Royal Osteoporosis Society headquarters, the Queen Consort spoke about a matter close to her heart.

The Queen attended a reception with invited guests to show her appreciation for the work of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Charity is particularly important to her because her mother was 71 years old when she died of the sickness in 1994.

Camilla’s grandmother died of the illness in 1986.

In a 2021 interview with Gloria Hunniford for the BBC to commemorate World Osteoporosis Day, the Queen Consort Camilla discussed her mother’s struggle with osteoporosis.

She remembered a friend entering the building to hug her and accidently breaking one of her ribs. It was very nasty.

Camilla spoke about her late mother, Rosalind Shand, and her purported age-related problems. “I believe my mother visited almost everyone you could think of, and they all apologised for her age by saying,’Sorry, you’re old.'” We just stood there watching her shrivel up in front of us.”

The sickness also impacted Camilla and her family. “It was terrible,” she said. “Because we were unaware of the situation, we wondered at one point, ‘Well, is she making such a big deal out of all of this?'”

“Sometimes when she moved, or you touched her, she genuinely screamed,” Camilla added, revealing her mother’s poor health.

Camilla has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the issue since then, and she is now an ambassador for the Royal Osteoporosis Society.

She believes that education is critical. “I believe we all believe we are immortal when we are young,” says the author, “but I would prefer to see more young people educated.”

“I’d like to see more young people understand it, rather than simply thinking, ‘Poor old bats, that’s what will happen to us when we get old,’ you know.”

Gloria inquired about Camilla’s concerns regarding her family’s future. “I believe my daughter’s generation is receptive,” she explained.

“But, you know, they’re becoming teenagers.” I’d show my mum images from before and after she was diagnosed with osteoporosis. I’d show them photographs and tell them, ‘Look, that’s what’s going to happen to you if you don’t care.'”