The Queen Made a Shoutout to Camilla in a Her Speech About Charles

From Harper's BAZAAR

This evening, the Queen gave a rare personal speech honoring her son, Prince Charles, for his 70th birthday party at Buckingham Palace. In the heartfelt address, Her Majesty praised her eldest child for being a "champion of conservation and the arts" and "a great charitable leader," but she also made a sweet mention to his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

"Most of all, sustained by his wife Camilla, he is his own man, passionate and creative," the sovereign said at the end of her speech. "So this toast is to wish a happy birthday to my son, in every respect a duchy original."

Members of the royal family gathered at Buckingham Palace for the formal but private event celebrating the Prince of Wales. In addition to the Queen, Charles, and Camilla, royal guests included Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Princess Eugenie, Jack Brooksbank, and Zara and Mike Tindall.

While the birthday celebrant suited up in a tux and bowtie, the Duchess of Cornwall looked stunning in a sequined navy dress long sleeve dress by British couturier Bruce Oldfield and a diamond bracelet, necklace, and earrings.

Despite tabloid rumors suggesting they have a strained relationship (in light of Camilla's on-and-off romance with Charles), the Queen has publicly shown appreciation for her daughter-in-law a number of times.

Although she and Prince Philip didn't attend Camilla and Charles' civil ceremony wedding in 2005, they did attend the blessing at St. George's Chapel that followed. Later at the reception, she honored the couple with a warm toast.

"They have overcome Becher's Brook and The Chair and all kinds of other terrible obstacles, They have come through and I'm very proud and wish them well. My son is home and dry with the woman he loves," she said, according to The Telegraph.

In 2012, Her Majesty honored the Duchess of Cornwall by appointing her to be a Dame Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, in reward for her her "services to the sovereign." She even had Camilla ride in her carriage at the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Read the Queen's full birthday speech to Prince Charles here.

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