Camilla 'spoke to The Queen on Zoom daily in lockdown', expert claims

2022-11-03

Queen Consort Camilla ‘shared daily Zoom calls with The Queen during lockdown’ and distracted the late monarch from Prince Philip’s ailing health with ‘talk of the horses’, royal author claims

Queen Consort supported Her Majesty while she was in lockdown at Windsor
Royal author Angelia Levin claims the two women spoke on Zoom daily
Expert says Camilla and the Queen had a ‘natural friendship’

Queen Consort Camilla ‘shared daily Zoom calls with The Queen during lockdown’ and distracted the late monarch from Prince Philip’s ailing health by talking about their shared love of horses, a royal author has claimed.

Biographer Angela Levin – whose new book Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall was released last month – said the Queen Consort’s relationship with her mother-in-law became closer during the pandemic.

When Boris Johnson put the UK into lockdown in March 2020, The Queen and Prince Philip chose to isolate at Windsor Castle with a 22 members of staff, dubbed the ‘HMS Support Bubble.

Speaking to 9Honey, Angela says the-then Duchess of Cornwall, 75, stepped up her communication with Her Majesty during this period and spoke to the Queen everyday on Zoom.

The Queen Consort held daily Zoom calls with the Queen while she was in lockdown at Windsor Castle, a royal expert has claimed. The two women pictured at the Ceremonial Welcome in the Buckingham Palace Garden for President Trump on June 3, 2019

The late Queen Elizabeth – pictured in 2021 – used the video conferencing tool to conduct royal engagements virtually in the pandemic.

The Queen Consort – pictured on a Zoom call from her home in Clarence House in January 2021 – checked in with Her Majesty ‘everyday in lockdown to talk about what was going on’, royal author Angela Levin has claimed

Referencing how The Queen didn’t attend Camilla and Charles’ 2005 legal wedding ceremony, Angela said: ‘They got on more and more as time went on and during the pandemic they set up a private Zoom connection between each other and they would talk every day about what was going on.’

As she was 94 years old at the time, the expert said Her Majesty had to be shown how to operate Zoom by her daughter Princess Anne, 72, and then used the video conferencing tool to conduct royal engagements virtually in the pandemic.

Before Prince Philip passed away at the age of 99 on April 9, 2021, the Duke of Edinburgh was hospitalised several times in his final two years and had surgery for a pre-existing heart condition just one month before his death.

During this particularly challenging period for the Queen, the royal expert said Camilla tried to distract Her Majesty with lighter topics of conversation – including their shared love of horses.

The Queen Consort and her late mother-in-law shared a passion for horses. Camilla, 73, pictured patting a horse as she attends a reception on October 11, 2022 to thank the community of Aberdeenshire for their organisation and support following the death of the Queen

Left: The Queen pictured riding her favourite pony Emma on the Windsor estate shortly before her 88th birthday in 2014. Right: Her Majesty’s favourite pony Emma stood at the side of the Long Walk on the approach to Windsor Castle as the coffin carrying her devoted owner was driven past at her final farewell.

‘Prince Philip was becoming more and more ill and I think [Camilla] was there to be kind and helpful and to talk about the horses,’ Angela added. ‘It was a natural friendship and a way of checking how she was.’

In September, the Mail on Sunday reported that Camilla is set take over the reins from the late Queen as the Royal figurehead of horse-racing

A senior racing source said: ‘I think now it will be Camilla – she will be the figurehead. The plan has always been that Charles and Camilla would take on the legacy.

‘Camilla obviously adores horses and is hugely passionate about racing. She really loves it, particularly Cheltenham – the jumps. I think there’s a pretty clear plan, given the Queen’s passion and love for racehorses.’

Camilla has long had a passion for horses, being a keen rider. She is president of the Ebony Horse Club – a riding charity.

The King (pictured with Queen Consort Camilla at Royal Ascot in 2009) has made more than £1million by selling 14 of his mother’s racehorses

Four-year-old racehorse Just Fine – King Charles’s first prize-winning horse – has been sold for £300,000. (Pictured winning the British Stallion EBF Novice Stakes at Sandown racecourse in Surrey)

Back in January 2021, during a chat with Charlie Mackesy – author of best-selling book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse – Camilla revealed how she spent her childhood doodling horses.

The Queen got her first horse – a Shetland pony called Peggy – as a birthday present from her grandfather King George V at the age of four.

During her funeral procession, Her Majesty’s favourite pony Emma stood at the side of the Long Walk on the approach to Windsor Castle as the coffin carrying her devoted owner was driven past at her final farewell.

Although King Charles was a keen amateur jockey in the 1980s, his involvement has been nominal – leaving space for his wife to become the Royal Family’s racing figurehead.

Last month, it was revealed that King Charles had made more than £1million by selling off 14 of the late Queen’s beloved racehorses.

The King sold more than a third of his mother’s racehorses, which he inherited upon her death, at the famous Tattersalls October sales in Newmarket, Suffolk this week.

The royal racehorses made him an average of £76,821 each – £1,075,500 in total – with Charles’s first race-winning horse Just Fine being sold for £300,000.

Queen Elizabeth had a lifelong love of horses after receiving a pony as a fourth birthday present from her grandfather King George V. Pictured admiring a horse at Royal Ascot in 2021

Trained by the Queen’s longest standing trainer Sir Michael Stoute, Just Fine won an impressive victory in Leicester earlier this month – the first win since the late monarch’s death on September 8.

He was one of four of the Queen’s former horses that sold for six-figure sums.

Meanwhile Love Affairs, which was the Queen’s last winner at Goodwood two days before her death, sold for £38,000.

Charles has already had some success since inheriting his mother’s racehorses, with Perfect Alibi earning him £28,000 with victory in a Listed contest at Yarmouth earlier this month.

But despite this, there are rumours that the new monarch might be planning to wind down, or at least scale back, the royal racing operation.

A source close to the Royal Sandringham Stud in Norfolk said there is talk of ‘winding down’ the breeding operation over three years, until it ceases to be a commercial operation.

The source said: ‘The Royal stud could be a museum in three years. It would be a real shame.’

A Royal source confirmed Charles will reduce the number of horses but added: ‘The connection between the family and the horse racing industry will continue.

‘The desire is to continue with the traditions and connections with Royal Ascot but not on the same scale as Her Majesty because she had a passion.’

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