Camilla teams up with screen and stage stars to wish Charles 'early recovery'

14 February 2024 , 22:51

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Queen Camilla with 'a dozen dames' at a celebration of Shakespeare's work this evening (Image: Getty Images)

Stars of the stage and screen joined the Queen tonight to wish the King “an early recovery” as she joined a star-studded reception celebrating the work of William Shakespeare.

Camilla, who is patron of the National Theatre, met famous Shakespeare fans including “a dozen dames”, among them Dames Judi Dench and Joanna Lumley who are close personal friends of the King and Queen, Dame Vanessa Redgrave and Dames Eileen Atkins and Penelope Keith at the “Celebration of Shakespeare” event in Grosvenor House, Mayfair. Camilla was originally due to have attended the event on Valentines night with the King, but attended solo after Charles’s withdrawal from public duties following his cancer diagnosis.

Camilla, 75, wearing a green velvet Me + Em dress and white drop Alhambra Van Cleef & Arpels earrings, attended with her sister Annabel Eliot and was also joined by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Lady Sarah Chatto, Gabriella Windsor and her husband, and Freddie Windsor and his wife, the actress Sophie Winkleman.

They were greeted by her friend and host for the evening, broadcaster and author Gyles Brandreth, who later raised a toast “to the love of Shakespeare and the love between the King and Queen”. He then introduced her to a line-up of 11 actors who have all played Hamlet, including Simon Russell Beale, Brian Cox, Jeremy Irons, Freddie Fox, Robert Lindsay and David Mitchell.

Before having her photo taken with the group, Fox joked to Camilla: “I think I’m the youngest Hamlet here.” Camilla also spoke with Alex Jenning, who played the Duke of Windsor in The Crown, asking him: “So when did you play Hamlet?” Jenning told her: “I played Hamlet in 1997 – it was an amazing role.”

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Camilla with Succession star Brian Cox (Getty Images)

While speaking to the “dozen dames”, Redgrave presented her with a large bouquet of roses, “Thank you, that’s very kind,” said Camilla, before having a group photo taken with them and joining the reception, where English wine had been specially ordered for the King and guests dined on Shakespeare-themed canapes including “To beet or not to beet” belinis.

Also on the guest list were Sir Tim Rice, poet laureate Simon Armitage, Sir David Suchet, Baroness Floella Benjamin, Dame Twiggy Lawson, Dame Virginia McKenna, Jeremy Paxman, Fiona Bruce, Melvyn Bragg, the playwright Sir David Hare and theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh.

Camilla posing with (L-R) Alex Jennings, Freddie Fox, Jeremy Irons, Brian Cox, Tom Courtenay, Peter Egan, Robert Lindsay, Martin Jarvis, Simon Russell Beale, Robert Powell and Samuel West (Getty Images)

Authors including Sir Michael Morpugo and Jilly Cooper joined directors including Tamara Harvey, the co-artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. After chatting to guests, Camilla, a long-term campaigner on the joys and benefits of literature, joined Brandreth who took to a stage and made speech: “I was telling the Queen I’ve given up name-dropping for Lent, so the next few days are going to be tricky for me.”

Queen Camilla during a visit to visit Kindred Studios' pop-up hub in Shepherds Bush, west London (PA)

He then raised a toast for “To the King, the Queen and William Shakespeare,” before turning to the Queen, saying: “You can’t drink because you’re part of the toast.

Russell Myers