Queen Camilla has been "trying to hold back" King Charles.
Queen Camilla and Carrie Johnson at the relaunch of the Wash Bags initiative
The 75-year-old monarch has been out of the public eye for two months while receiving cancer treatment but he and his wife paid a visit to University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre on Tuesday (30.05.24), and the queen admitted he was "thrilled" to be out and about.
Speaking to Teresa Tideman, chair of In Kind Direct at a Buckingham Palace reception for those who support survivors of sexual abuse on Wednesday (01.05.24), she said: “I think he was really thrilled to be out.
“I’ve been trying to hold him back.”
During the event, the queen issued a "thank you" to her 300 guests - which included former Prime Minister Theresa May and Cherie Blair and Carrie Johnson, the wives of former Prime Ministers Sir Tony Blair and Boris Johnson -for their generosity to those “who have been dehumanised in the most brutal way”.
The reception marked the relaunch of the Queen's Wash Bag Project, a scheme she initiated in 2013 which provides toiletries to victims of sexual assault and rape, as a gesture of comfort after they undergo forensic examinations.
Camilla read out a letter from the mother of a woman identified as 'Jane', who had visited a sexual assault referral centre hours after being attacked, a "horrible, if necessary, event".
The note read: “We were preparing to leave and were all feeling very low and subdued.
“Jane’s personal contact then returned with a wonderful bag of toiletries and items to pamper and relax her.
“This simple act completely changed the atmosphere and lifted our moods.
“It was such a lovely and completely unexpected gesture, which reminded my daughters and I of the kindness of strangers at a very dark time”.
The Queen said: “As you can imagine, this letter moved me deeply.
“The phrase ‘the kindness of strangers at a very dark time’ is, to me, the guiding principle of everything that you all do: reaching out a hand of friendship to people who have been dehumanised in the most brutal way; giving comfort to those who are traumatised; and offering hope that physical and emotional healing are possible, as Jane can vouch for.
“To each one of you, I would therefore like to say – thank you. Thank you for sharing your stories, thank you for your kindness, thank you for not remaining strangers to those enduring the darkest of times, and, most of all, thank you for standing up and committing yourselves to bringing an end to these heinous crimes – forever.”
Carrie - who has Wilfred, four, Romy, two, and Frank, nine months with her husband - spoke with Camilla about her family.
The queen said: “Very nice to see you again, I haven’t seen you for a long while. Not seen you since you had number three.”
Carrie laughed: “I know. Chaos, chaos.”
Tagged in King Charles