The Duchess of Cornwall has spoken about her struggles with handling media attention in a rare interview, in which she also revealed that she played Wordle with her granddaughter every day.
Speaking to British Vogue at Clarence House, the London home she shares with Prince Charles, Camilla opened up about approaching her 75th birthday, being a grandmother and learning from young people.
Discussing the pressures of press scrutiny, she said she had had to learn to rise above criticism in the media. “It’s not easy,” she said. “I was scrutinised for such a long time that you just have to find a way to live with it. Nobody likes to be looked at all the time and, you know, criticised and ... but I think in the end, I sort of rise above it and get on with it.”
The interview comes after the jubilee celebrations, where Prince Charles was reportedly among those lobbying the Queen for the Duke of York to remain out of public view for the Order of the Garter Day procession at Windsor Castle.
Camilla also revealed that she enjoyed the viral word puzzle Wordle, which took the internet by storm at the beginning of the year. “I do Wordle every day with my granddaughter,” she said. “She’ll text me to say: ‘I’ve done it in three,’ and I say: ‘Sorry, I’ve done it in two today.’ It’s very satisfactory when it tells you how brilliant you are.”
She said she loved texting with her five grandchildren, all of whom are aged between 12 and 14. “It’s very nice getting a text,” she said. “We learn from very young people and they learn from us, too. That’s the way it’s always been.”
With her birthday coming up next month, the duchess disclosed that her grandchildren were trying to convince her to get her ears pierced, but to no avail. She described watching her granddaughters “beginning to get into clothes and makeup” as “rather frightening”. “You see them coming out with pierced ears and a lot of new makeup and funny-coloured hair and stuff.”
She also revealed her fashion no-gos in the interview. While preparing for the Vogue shoot two weeks ago, the magazine’s team proposed she wear an outfit matching the wisteria in the garden at Clarence House. It was an immediate no from the duchess, who has called the colour “menopausal mauve”.
She instead opted for an evening dress by Bruce Oldfield Couture from her own wardrobe. At the shoot, she said: “I did have some [press-on] nails, but I lost them all gardening yesterday.”
