Queen Camilla admitted she was still feeling ‘a bit tired’ from her nasty bout of pneumonia as she attended a reception to mark the 50th anniversary of Women’s Aid today.
The royal, 77, is suffering from post-viral fatigue and has scaled back her work schedule in recent weeks as she takes time to recover.
Wearing a black pinafore dress and animal print shirt by Fiona Clare, she told charity representatives and domestic abuse survivors who asked after her health: ‘I am still a bit tired. It catches up a bit.’
Many attendees congratulated Camilla on the success of her recent ITV documentary, Her Majesty the Queen: Behind Closed Doors, which explored her many years of work in the field – and she reiterated her vow never to stop campaigning on behalf of domestic abuse victims.
One of the survivors who took part was Alice Liveing, who was abused by her partner at the age of 16.
Miss Liveing, who is now a Women’s Aid ambassador, said: ‘I asked how she was feeling. She said she was feeling pretty tired but was trying to juggle some bits.’
Despite her ongoing fatigue, the Queen made time to attend the reception at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, where she hailed the strides made by the charity over the last five decades.
Making some impromptu remarks before cutting a cake, she said: ‘If you think what’s happening now compared to what was happening 50 years ago, you must all be incredibly proud of yourselves.
Queen Camilla looked animated as she attended Women’s Aid’s 50th anniversary event today
‘I think so many people hadn’t realised what domestic abuse was, especially then. It’s terrible that after 50 years, it still hasn’t been eradicated, but we are making progress.’
The Queen added: ‘I have no intention, now that I’ve started, to stop and I am determined to put an end to this.
‘We have all got to pull together. You are all doing a wonderful job, and we will put an end to it, probably not in my lifetime, but in some of some of yours.’
She also told one guest: ‘I can’t support a charity just for the sake of it, I have to feel it.’
The royal revealed that she had been inundated with letters since the broadcast, which had strengthened her resolve that the scourge of abuse would one day come to an end.
‘Having done the documentary, I’ve had so many letters so we’ll get there at some point,’ she said. ‘It will just take time.’
Katie Piper, who survived an acid attack and is also a Women’s Aid ambassador, said domestic violence was ‘one of the most isolating and dangerous forms of abuse’ because it so often occurred behind closed doors, where silence could make it invisible.
‘But silence is exactly what organisations like Women’s Aid have worked so hard to shatter over the past 50 years,’ she said.
The royal, 77, was spotted chatting with Ashley James , Katie Piper and Alice Liveing
Queen Camilla posed front and centre with the Women’s Aid ambassadors
‘They’ve been the ones to say, ‘you are not alone, you are not to blame’, and by doing that, they’ve created a sisterhood.
‘It’s not just about offering a place of refuge, but it’s also about empowering women to reclaim their lives.’
Nikki Bradley, head of services at Women’s Aid, said domestic violence was a ‘public emergency’ worthy of an emergency response.
‘As a woman, you are over three times more likely to be killed by a partner than not wearing a seatbelt, but where are the public safety campaigns for abuse?’ she said.
‘Despite the urgency and severity of the threat facing our women and children, it is not being treated as a priority.’
Loose Women broadcaster Kelle Bryan, who is also a survivor of domestic abuse, added: ‘The documentary meant the world to us, to see somebody of her ilk shine a light on something so dreadful.’
Camilla had told guests at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia.
She has been undertaking a reduced programme as she recovers, particularly from tiredness, but is still undertaking engagements.
Queen Camilla looked animated today as she attended Women’s Aid’s 50th anniversary event – after revealing she is recovering from pneumonia
On November 5, the palace announced that the Queen had come down with a chest infection and would miss Remembrance events that week, including the Festival of Remembrance and Remembrance Sunday at The Cenotaph war memorial.
But she was back in action on November 12 to meet with finalists of the literary Booker Prize at her London home, Clarence House.
‘I’m getting much better,’ she said at the event. ‘Bit of sort of coughing going on but I really wanted to be here.’
The Queen contracted her chest infection after a long haul trip to Australia and Samoa and has pulled out a series of engagements since then, including the Royal Variety Performance and the Gladiator II premiere.
It is understood the Queen was not taken to hospital with pneumonia, but is now facing bouts of extreme tiredness.
Sources stressed there was no cause for alarm, saying the chest infection had simply left the Queen ‘with significantly diminished reserves of energy’.
It comes after Camilla met with Brigette Macron at a book awards ceremony yesterday.
Sporting Dior – naturellement – Her Majesty shared a decidedly French double kiss with the First Lady and greeted her with a cheery ‘Bonjour!’ as they celebrated a new cross-channel literary initiative.
Camilla was wearing a black A-line dress from Fiona Clare with a sheer leopard print blouse underneath
Nikki Bradley, Director of Services at Women?s Aid, gifts flowers to Queen Camilla
Britain’s Queen Camilla (R) talks to British singer and actor, Kelle Bryan, Women’s Aid ambassador
The outing comes just days after Camilla revealed she had been recovering from pneumonia
Camilla also met with survivors of domestic abuse and listened intently as she heard their stories
Queen Camilla watches as Nikki Bradley, Director of Services at Women’s Aid, speaks during the 50 Years of Women’s Aid anniversary reception
Queen Camilla talks to Women’s Aid ambassadors as she attends the 50 Years of Women’s Aid anniversary reception
Camilla spoke to writer, activist and TV presenter Katie Piper, who was attending as an ambassador
Camilla was in charge of cutting the cake for the celebration, which was decorated with pink icing
The Queen praised Madame Macron’s English as ‘far better than my French’ – although she did study in Paris in her youth – and appeared to have such a good time at a reception with authors that the engagement ran a few minutes over schedule.
The pair teamed up to celebrate the Entente Littéraire Prize Ceremony, a new prize for young adult fiction in translation in French and English.
The Queen, 77, and First Lady of France, 71, who have previously played table tennis together, spent 15 minutes talking privately at the event, where they swapped books: four of the Queen’s Reading Room recommendations from Camilla to Madame Macron, and a book about Notre Dame in return.
The event was held at the French Ambassador’s Residence in London, near to Kensington Palace, where dozens of authors and translators gathered to honour the prize.
The Queen and Madame Macron greeted each other with arms outstretched. ‘How are you? How nice to see you,’ the Queen said.
After posing for a photograph, the pair walked up the steps, Madame Macron thanked the Queen for ‘organising’ the prize.
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