King Charles and Camilla wave to crowds from balcony in Hamburg
A royal expert has lifted the lid on the secret to King Charles and Queen Camilla's "healthy relationship", and it involves them actually spending some time apart. Grant Harrold, who previously worked for Charles and Camilla, explained that by keeping her own home and having some family time away from the royals the Queen Consort has been able to "settle in" to her new role by her husband's side.
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In an interview with Slingo, Mr Harrold said Camilla had managed to maintain a royal life and a private life, as she has her own children Tom Parker-Bowles and Laura Lopes from her previous marriage and is able to enjoy time with her grandchildren outside of the Firm.
He explained: "She’s also got her own house, Ray Mill, which she’s maintained as her own residence. It’s her own space so when she’s not doing royal duties she’s still got her own space for her and her family from her first marriage and I think it’s nice that she’s got that.
"She spends a lot of time with the King, of course they share the same homes and everything but she’s got that little bolthole, somewhere she can go and have her own space especially if he’s away and doing things overseas on his own.
"I think that’s the secret to a healthy relationship, having your own space as well is vital and that’s maybe what they’ve worked out was the mistakes from previous years. So that works really well."
Camilla has owned Ray Mill House, her £850,000 home in Wiltshire, since her divorce from Andrew Parker-Bowles in 1994, and lived there until 2003.
The property features stables, an outdoor swimming pool and large grounds with a river running through and was the location of Camilla's daughter Laura's wedding reception in 2006.
While on their state visit to Germany Camilla revealed to some schoolchildren in Hamburg that her favourite hobbies are gardening, reading and swimming in the sea, with Ray Mill providing the perfect place for her to rest and indulge in her favourite activities.
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Talking about her hobbies, Camilla said: "I used to have horses I rode but sadly I don't ride any longer.
"I think I'm too old, but I have race horses. Last night I watched on my screen one of the foals being born, which was very exciting."
The Queen Consort visited the children with illustrator Axel Scheffler, who is well-known for drawing the iconic children's character the Gruffalo.
Camilla even made a decent attempt at drawing the creature as she read extracts from the book to the class.
The Queen Consort is known for her love of literature and reading and has often highlighted the importance of literacy through her patronage of the National Literacy Trust.
Mr Scheffler said: "It is extremely important for children to read and draw as one in five children in the UK do not have a single book.
"Some children cannot even read or write and it is a big problem.
"The Queen Consort is very much involved in changing that."
