I tend to believe there are two kinds of people in the world: people who get along with seniors and people who get along with children. I get along better with older people. So does the Princess of Wales, and I’ve said for years that it’s a huge missed opportunity that Kate doesn’t have more patronages related to seniors. Instead, the palace has always tried to force her into this Early Years crap, all so she can get Diana-esque photo-ops with kids. Well, guess who’s using the same playbook? Queen Camilla, like Kate, gets along better with older folks. Birds of a feather and all that. But because she’s queen, her people think she needs to do some softer photo-ops with kids. On Wednesday, Camilla visited a primary school in west London. The purpose of her visit was all about one of her big causes these days, “people should read books.” Hey, at least she’s not pretending to be a credible Early Years expert.
The Queen was asked: “Are you the Queen?” by an excited seven-year-old pupil during a visit to a primary school on Wednesday.
“That’s me!” she cheerily responded as she chatted to the Year Two pupils at Christ Church CofE Primary School in Chelsea, west London.
Her Majesty also met a young Charles and a Kamilla during the visit and expressed mock surprise as she came face-to-face with a mosaic of the King at his Coronation.
“Oh my goodness, that’s my husband!” she laughed as she admired the children’s work.
The Queen, who wore a floral black and white Fiona Clare dress, was visiting the school to hear about a literary festival in which pupils are sponsored to read books. She heard about the various activities the school is using to promote reading for pleasure among its young pupils.
She told the children they “must keep on reading forever and ever” and that if they did so, by the time they were grown up they would be “stars”.
I’m including lots of photos from the visit in this post. I didn’t see any major gaffes, which Cam will probably mark down as a win. She staggered around, talking to children and praying that someone would bring her a Spongebob thermos full of gin. The photos of Cam in the middle of that huge group of kids is crazy too, because I’m sure she was copying the Duchess of Sussex.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Queen Camilla with pupils as she views a ceramic tiled mural celebrating the coronation of King Charles III in the school’s garden during her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884856975, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla views children as they take part in literary activities during her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857082, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla, pupils and teachers raise their hands in celebration of the Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857150, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla smiles and poses with pupils and teachers during her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857156, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla smiles as she attends a short assembly to hear two pupils speak about their favourite books during her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857166, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla smiles as she holds a bouquet of flower during her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857178, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla smiles as she holds a bouquet of flowers during her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857192, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla views a cake with pupilsduring her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857393, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla views a cake with pupils during her visit to Christ Church C of E Primary School’s Literary Festival on June 26, 2024 in London, England. NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS,Image: 884857400, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
Yes, I’ve been saying for ages that Kate is good with older people and should focus herself on that demographic. Camilla is actually good with kids, I believe. And I love the outfit. She dresses well for someone who, I’m convinced, doesn’t give a toss about her appearance. Her history is awful, but her work now is pretty solid.
If only it were her history and she wasn’t still briefing and causing trouble wherever she can.
True, equality, true. Her attitude to H&M has been/perhaps remains appalling but I believe, on the other hand, that she doesn’t like the Middleton camp at all. Maybe she could create some counter check in the dynamic between W&K and KC. W&K seem hell bent on preventing any kind of relationship between Charles and Harry. Camilla could perhaps shift KC’s position to a more pragmatic approach, even if her efforts were driven by her dislike of Kate’s family rather than fondness for Harry.
Sparrow, I do not think Clownmilla wants a relationship between Chuck and either of his kids. She is not going to encourage him to be pragmatic with regard to anything that doesn’t benefit her.
Camilla is not going to help Meghan and harry
No way. It is up to Charles anyway.
Why would she “create some counter check in the dynamic between W&K and KC, when her shenanigans probably produced that exact outcome? As for “W&K seem hell bent on preventing any kind of relationship between Charles and Harry,” that’s probably also been orchestrated by her. She got Chuck to hire former DailyFail editor to head up their comms. Nobody’s a better DailyFail whisperer than QueenConC.
Camilla does care about how she looks. She sports gems from the royal collection. I think her wardrobe costs a lot.
Expensive? Could have fooled me. She runs around in tacky zippered house dresses with a hairstyle that should have been left in the 1970s, and she always looks 3 gin & it’s away from walking out of the palace in her carpet slippers
Yes expensive since the outfits are tailor made for her. They may not look expensive but custom made royal outfits can run into money.
I keep seeing the image of how Camilla lifted a child’s hand to look at her bracelet. Very coarse
She’s shaking the child’s hand as she was one of the official greeters when Camilla arrived.
Megan that was from an earlier appearance where she awkwardly moved the child’s hand to look and then dropped it awkwardly. This is on the internet.
I recall Queen Side Piece picking up that Black child’s arm by the sleeve to examine her bracelet. It was as though Queen Jump Off was loathe to come in contact with the child’s brown skin. It gave “auction block”. It wasn’t a good look.
Explain to me how QueenConC going to check out London’s school reading initiatives is avoiding the look of politicking? Isn’t she supposed to lay low during UK election to avoid appearance of favoritism?
Are you suggesting the Torties are illiterate?
Megan – No. I thought she was making a visit to a ‘public’ school (as in supported by public/ government, rather than private tuition). Mybad. Original Telegraph article says she was at Christchurch CofE Primary School, which sounds like a privately funded school, associated with Church of England.
If her work now was actually good, she would be working hard to erase all of the destruction she created. She doesn’t get to stop in to a few spots and pretend that she’s doing anything useful and that it somehow makes up for a lifetime of destruction.
Dolly Parton did for illiteracy far more than Cloppy ever has, and unlike Cloppy, Dolly didn’t destroy any lives either.
In a world of Cloppys, be a Dolly Parton.
‘praying that someone would bring her a Spongebob thermos full of gin’……LMAO 😂
Regardless of the intent, BP did a good job on this event because the photo ops look great. People should read books! This also threads the needle of being non political before the election.
This event also shows just how incompetent KP is. Kate should do the kids sporty events and the general events with the elderly. If they insist on ‘arly yars, they should have stuck with experts presenting Kate their findings to bring publicity to legit research instead of deciding they were suddenly an independent research institute.
I agree with Camilla on this one. People should read books. Namely, Spare.
She is not, and never will be, The Queen.
I know! Every time I hear “the queen” I double take and think, “Elizabeth’s risen”. That sounds rather off, but her title will never sit right.
The Queen was the Queen for all my life, well as far as I can remember, I was actually born in the reign of George VI but not old enough to remember. So yes The Queen is Elizabeth to me and it seems odd to type ‘The King.’
Elizabeth will always be the queen to me. Not camilla.
I think the whole world and her uncle knows where I stand on this but, just in case: “She is NOT the Queen, she’s a Queen Consort. If KCIII goes before her, she will have no say in how the palaces and will have to stop wearing the REAL queen’s jewellery!
Kate will be in charge instead.
Can’t see that ever happening.
Camilla is not “The Queen” in the same way that QE2 was “The Queen”. Elizabeth was Queen Regnant ie Queen in her own right and Camilla is Queen Consort ie the wife of a king.
Meghan would have been on the floor with the kids.
Yeah, but to be fair, Cam likely would have not been able to get back up out of the floor without serious help.
Yes but Camilla is a 75 year old woman. If she went down on the floor with the children she’s not likely to be able to get back up, hence the chair.
I think she’s actually copying Meghan standing in the crowed of students at that London school during her last weekend of activities in London, before the stepped down.
I do like the photo of everyone waving.
Say what one wants to say about Camilla and I have said a lot; However, this is EXACTLY the type of “Bread and Butter” engagements that the Princess needs to do five times a week 40 weeks of the year.
Camilla did not take a leaf out of Diana’s playbook, she took a leaf out of Anne’s playbook and did what seems to be a very well organized “Bread and Butter” engagement.
And also it’s just a better fit in terms of projects. Camilla likes to read and she’s basically encouraging others to read. She’s no Dolly with her imagination library but it works. As opposed to the early years initiative that just creates busy work to say that the early years are important.
BayTampaBay and Jais, I agree: literacy is an excellent cause, it’s not as political as some other ones, she’s managed to dovetail it with her own actual interests, and it’s a decent visit from an albeit indecent royal.
@BayTampaBay hear, hear
Have to add I like her outfit and the grey suede shoes, she looks good.
Ok she did an event with children. I’m still not nor will I ever be impressed with the side piece horse.
Our attitudes differ somewhat, Susan Collins, but “side piece horse” makes me smile. I know you mean it seriously, not as a joke, and my comment may come over as patronising, I don’t mean it to. She was indeed a side piece, and I sometimes forget it, or let her current work, which seems more extensive than, say, William’s appearances, impresses me at times. Her treatment of Diana and by extension her sons was awful.
Right? The level of damage she has caused via her press rat buddies can’t be overstated. She has contributed to cause a situation where Meghan and her children can’t even be in England without worrying for their lives. Nothing Clownmilla does can ever impress me, unless she decides to come clean and apologize.
Actually she went to visit London school(s) to find out about their reading initiatives. It is not just ‘yay reading’ event. She went to specifically highlight particular policy initiatives of London school(s). To me, this is appearance of supporting certain politics, which is supposedly bad for SuperiorRoyals because they shouldn’t support particular government people or policies during an election. Eh. Sounds like more royal horse doodoo.
Oops. Correction on prior misunderstanding that she seemed political during election period. Actually, it seems like QueenConC and her staff specifically picked out a privately funded school with disproportionately high number of white children in London. Did she bother to donate herb and vegetable planter boxes like Harry and Meghan did for NYC PS 123? No, because she specifically picked affluent, privately funded school. Did she bother to partner with consumer products company to stock school pantry with free health and hygiene products like Harry and Meghan did for NYC PS 123? No, because she specifically picked privately funded school attended by mostly white children from affluent families.
That picture is a strait-up dupe of meghan’s. Chris Jackson should be sending Meghan flowers in montecito for giving him photo ideas. They treated her as inhuman and then copied everything about her. The shamelessness and glee in which they do so is stomach-turning. Jeremy’s friend Camilla is a pretty awful person.
Chris Jackson probably yelled, “Who wants ice cream?”, to get that reaction from those children. 🤣
Maybe she’s hoping kids will grow up to read Jeremy Clarkson articles.
As some people like to say Meghan’s the blueprint.
It is all about optics. The spin of the kindly grandma. She was horrid to Meghan mocking how she held her stomach when she was pregnant.
Something about the composition of this picture is dizzying. It also reminds me of the Where’s Waldo books. Great cause, weird pic.
This is obviously all for PR. It looks as if the first little girl is trying to give some type of presentation with that mosaic, yet that demon side piece is standing there with that bizarre grin on her face instead of acknowledging the little girl. The distance and pointed way she is not even facing her is bothersome. The crowded children’s photo is just another example of how they always fail in their attempts to copy the original. What is up with that bizarre grin she always has and why are her hands positioned so weirdly on her lap? There is no personal connection to anyone in that room, especially the little children of color. Her position on that chair somehow is the child version of the royals being carried by natives. It looks inauthentic. This is Camilla’s attempt to copy Meghan’s obvious charisma and relatability with others, which Meghan is capable of doing with the young and the old. She failed this attempt just like she failed copying Diana’s gorgeous black revenge dress all of those years ago. She will always be the side piece that everyone wonders “What was that weird looking big eared guy thinking?”.
London is multi racial city , how come camilla found mostly white kid schools. These people are racist as f@ck.
TBF this school fairly represents an affluent suburb of London, so going to guess the BRF went for a mainly white state school with a smattering of brown and black faces for the optics.
I think BP & KP have seen the SM posts and complaints about black and brown people being used as props by the BRF.
This is not an accusation of anything suspicious… but that must be the WHITEST school in London. All the schools I have visited are at most 60% white, and that includes my child’s private school. Maybe it’s a Church of England thing? Plus, this is Chelsea?
Her handlers know she cannot be trusted to act right around non-white people, so they did their research and picked the least diverse school they could find. No sense in pushing that racist heifer onto people she can’t stand being around.
Nah this is a pretty standard school in an affluent area. Had it been Notting Hill then the demographics would be very different, however this is Chelsea as in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. This catchment area would encompass prime real estate and there is far less social housing in Chelsea than say other areas of London.
Also a lot of upper middle class parents tend to send their children to ‘good’ state schools during their formative years and so as to save funds for ‘prep school’ i.e. 9-11 years old and then secondary school i.e. 11-18 years old when there is a greater focus on exam performance.
This is why we’re likely seeing a lot of ‘white’ faces in this school – but TBF a lot of these white kids look very ‘international’. The number of biracial children is also a give-away for me as a Londoner as to the likely demographic of this school.
I think BP would have done their research and deliberately targeted this school.
So are Church of England schools (Christ Church CofE) ‘state’ schools? Or are they privately funded?
@kirk the denomination would not really tell us if this was a state school or privately funded, so could be both.
In this case however, this school is ‘voluntary aided’, which means it is a state school which is also funded by trustees and that is the key point that likely points to the selectiveness we see in the picture.
Essentially the parents in the area are heavily funding it via trusts etc, which in turn benefits the children.
Also this particular school has been reported as ‘OUTSTANDING’ in its most recent OFSTED report (governing body for schools). The report also states that just 14.3% of the children are eligible for free school meals as compared to @ 28% which is the London average, which again speaks to the affluence of the school.
Designating a school as Voluntary Aided is a common tactic in affluent or very middle class areas, where parents become very involved and will fund and push the direction of a school for the betterment of its students. It also allows schools to push a religious curriculum, which again affects selection. Of course that can also manifest negatively i.e. in the same way upscale Coops in New York can deny entry to certain types of people.
As an FYI public school in USA = state school in UK and;
Public school in the UK = Private school in the US
Flower – Thank you for the explainer! Very helpful.
Wouldn’t it be nice if it was a disadvantaged school rather than one in Chelsea? Surely promoting reading activities would be more beneficial there. She could come up with a school reading initiative and then clop along to various schools. Easy win.
The photo caption says it’s Christ Church CofE Primary School. I guess that means Church of England (privately funded) school. I mistakenly thought she was visiting a public school like when Meghan and Harry did a reading event at NYC PS 123.
By contrast, Beatrice pitched in at a school in one of the most racially diverse areas of London (Thornton Heath in the Borough of Croydon):
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/princess-beatrice-delivers-surprise-story-time-to-croydon-schoolchildren
Remind me why she isn’t a working royal?
I’m sorry but these two photos with her standing in middle of all of those kids made me laugh. She looks so awkward !
Can I add something a bit off topic but not! We go on about the damage Camilla caused Diana and the kids, seemingly on every post and rightly so, and yet Charles continually dodges the bullet of this narrative. They were both complicit. He was as bad as she was. I actually see him as worse, in that he was old enough to not give way to parents and marry a barely grown woman, bringing her into an unloved marriage, and effectively making her a lamb to the slaughter. We always tend to go for the woman. When Charles appears, there isn’t “horrible man who had a side piece…” before we dive into the point. And breathe out…
Charles was 32 when he courted 19 year old . Diana. He can’t pass off the blame to his parents he was not forced. He did not have to get married at all.
Hi Tessa. This is my point. The narrative is always: his parents insisted on a marriage to a virgin of good birth, English, etc, and that they knew of his affair with Camilla, but it had to be done. The narrative then flows that he nobly gave in, after lots of arguments, and went through with it for England’s sake. Like I said, he was a grown man. I think this gets lost in the excuse-making for him. He was a grown man who could’ve fought back. Therein lies my problem with the one sided Camilla-bashing. Charles was as bad if not worse.
Camilla approved of Diana and promoted the match. Charles wanted heirs and got to have his cake and eat it too. He got the heirs and eventually got to marry Camilla. If Charles had a heart he would not have wanted Diana in a marriage of convenience for him. He only thinks of himself. There was nothing to fight he could have moved on. Philip did not force him he gave Charles sensible advice to break up with Diana if he did not want to marry her. Charles and Charles alone is responsible
I think the issue with cams isn’t just she was a side piece. Yes chuck is awful and he mentally abused /cheated on/lied to Diana. I don’t think he gets away with that. He’ll always be tampon to me.
However, Cowmilla launched a smear campaign against Diana via her tabloid mates, and has been briefing them since the 80s. A former sun editor said weekly. She’s manipulated chuck who is weak and pathetic. Now she’s turned on Harry, Meghan and even the egg. The nastiest briefings are from her. She smears and lies for her own personal gain and her own personal power. No one else’s. She’s literally the power behind the throne.
That she deliberately drove a wedge between chuck and Harry is appalling. She had chuck hand over millions in trust to her family while leaving Harry in poverty. Reality is she’s evil and manipulative, not simply a mistress. Chuck really is that stupid.
She’s a modern day rasputin.
Kaiser I spit out my water laughing at a SpongeBob thermos full of gin 😂😂😂
Sorry, looks like another “we’re not racist” gig to me.
OMG, I would have been in heaven with all those beautiful children beside me. All that hope on their tiny faces. She looks terrified , and the position of her hands is weird. Their just kids Cams, they won’t hurt you.
I can’t get over the weirdness of Camilla doing a separate event during the Japanese State Visit. This is yet another example of how weird the BRF are as hosts
The BRF need to stop people and especially children curtsying to them.
If I were a parent of one of these two I would be LIVID – especially if I had not been forewarned about the curtsy.
If they want to appear as relatable figureheads, then they need to leave these conventions in the past.
It’s 2024 FFS.
Notice the difference in rrsponses. Camilla said “that’s me” when asked if she was the queen, but even Kate was asked a similar question her answer was “I’m married to William” .
This is such a good engagement for a member of the RF. What I fail to understand is why we don’t see more of these, particularly from Kate. She should have been visiting schools all over the country on a weekly basis. Instead, we get the press releases about her being briefed constantly or visiting a random school every great once in awhile. It’s so disappointing that the royals don’t want to be seen.
She could surround herself with a million adorable kids and she’d still be loathsome.
The pictures look very photoshopped.
The pic of her sitting on a chair surrounded by kids has been very badly faked.
“Are you the Queen?”
“That’s me!”
— The actual Queen turns over, in her grave…