While Queen Camilla skipped the official welcome ceremony for the Qatari royals yesterday, she did make it to Buckingham Palace for the lunch, and then she was front-and-center for the state dinner, obviously. For weeks now, palace officials have briefed reporters that Camilla had a “chest infection” and/or a “lingering cold,” and that doctors advised her to cancel many appearances in the past month. Then on Tuesday, Camilla told guests that her chest infection was a form of pneumonia, and she’s still experiencing “episodic symptoms of post-viral fatigue.” I have no doubt that Camilla was really ill. But I do think it’s bizarre that Camilla and the palace have been playing a bit fast and loose with what’s really going on. It’s also a little bit funny that she never has episodic fatigue when it comes time for an event in which she can raid the Royal Collection jewels.
So, here are photos from last night’s state dinner at Buckingham Palace. Camilla wore a dated, puffy-shouldered Fiona Clare gown which was not her color. She was dripping in diamonds though – she wore the diamond kokoshnik tiara (one of QEII’s favorites and most frequently worn), with a diamond necklace and diamond-and-ruby bracelet from the Royal Collection. Apparently, Camilla’s diamond earrings – probably my favorite piece of jewelry in this suite – are her own, from her own jewelry collection.
Are you guys curious about the menu? I am. According to Elle, the palace did a four-course halal selection featuring “a tartlet of Cornish Lobster and Quails Eggs, followed by Supreme of Windsor Pheasant wrapped in Savoy cabbage. A creative “Royal Mirage” mocktail, featuring smoked pomegranate and ginger with black lime garnish, was specifically crafted for non-drinking guests.” I bet Camilla asked someone to add a few dashes of gin to her mocktail. Honestly though, it’s very respectful to do a fully halal meal.
Charles and Camilla also exchanged gifts with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani. The emir gave the king: a model of a traditional sailboat used in pearl diving and “a limestone and blue sodalite side table with geometric shell and brass inlays, inspired by the decoration of the Amiri Diwan building.” Sheikha Jawaher gave Camilla a multi-stranded necklace of pearls, and Camilla (hilariously) gave Sheikha Jawaher a “silver and blue enamel round pill box.” Charles gave the emir a framed photo (of Charles and Camilla), plus a hand-knotted prayer rug woven by Afghan weavers and a handcrafted wooden stand for a Quran. Honestly, the men gave each other much better gifts, but I’d love to know the worth of Camilla’s new pearl necklace.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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London, UK, 03 December 2024: Queen Camilla during the state visit by Emir of Qatar. The Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, accompanied by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani, has accepted an invitation from His Majesty The King to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom the couple attended a state banquet at Buckingham Palace with HM King Charles III and Queen Camilla who is recovering from pneumonia.,Image: 942580831, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler/Avalon/Avalon
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London, UK, 03 December 2024: from left to right: Queen Camilla, The Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, King Charles III and Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani during a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, London.,Image: 942580940, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler/Avalon/Avalon
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Queen Camilla ahead of a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, London, during the Emir of Qatar’s state visit to the UK
Featuring: Queen Camilla
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 03 Dec 2024
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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Queen Camilla ahead of a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, London, during the Emir of Qatar’s state visit to the UK
Featuring: Queen Camilla
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 03 Dec 2024
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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Queen Camilla and the Emir of Qatar’s wife Sheikha Jawaher make their way along the East Gallery to attend the state banquet for the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at Buckingham Palace, London, during his state visit to the UK
Featuring: King Charles III, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Queen Camilla, Sheikha Jawaher
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 03 Dec 2024
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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King Charles III (2nd left) with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (left) with Queen Camilla and the Emir of Qatar’s wife Sheikha Jawaher make their way along the East Gallery to attend the state banquet for the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at Buckingham Palace, London, during his state visit to the UK
Featuring: King Charles III, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Queen Camilla, Sheikha Jawaher
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 03 Dec 2024
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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King Charles III with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, London, during the state visit to the UK of the Emir of Qatar and the first of his three wives
Featuring: King Charles III, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 03 Dec 2024
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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King Charles III and Queen Camilla with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and The Princess Royal during a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, London, during the state visit to the UK of the Emir of Qatar and the first of his three wives
Featuring: King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Anne Princess Royal
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 03 Dec 2024
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Are Kate and Camilla not willing to attend the same events anymore?
They were supposedly both at the lunch yesterday at the palace.
Could this be about Anne, Sophie, and Camilla all having the family honor with Charles’s face? Maybe Kate wasn’t awarded one, so no state dinners because it would then be obvious.
There is footage of all of them at the look see event but William seems to be keeping Kate away from everyone. Becky English has clips of this event on her Twitter and it’s noticeable.
@Val, oh my, didn’t Kate get the family honor? That is a bit mean, especially if Sophie got it.
We know she got the one from QEII, but do we know if she got one from Charles?
I’m wondering where the pearl necklace ends up in Camilla’s private collection or in the royal collection.
Charles and Camilla are given beautiful jewelry and sculptures, but Charles gives them a framed picture of himself and his wife? What a terrible gift. Why would someone want that? Unless it was my kid or niece giving me a framed photo of themself as a gift, I would think that was really f**king weird and disappointing.
Charles and Camilla gave other, very nice sounding, gifts in addition. The pill box, afghan woven rug and Quran stand.
and the Emir also gave Charles that sword he is holding according to the Court Jeweller (I think.)
it sounds like the gifts were all nice and appropriate for state visits besides the framed picture. Thats just so weird to me. Like maybe at the end of the visit, give a nice framed picture (I’m hoping its in a nice frame) from the state dinner or something. But just a picture of the British monarch (and spouse in this case) seems so weird to me and they do it repeatedly.
My first thought as well. Were the gifts to Charles and Cammie, or the the Crown?
Since the gifts were exchanged at an official function, the pearl necklace does not belong to Camilla personally. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work now. I do wonder how closely they adhere to the rules, though.
I wish the Sheikha had worn more jewelry. Her earrings and rings are lovely though but i wanted to see a big necklace or something.
Camilla has always been able to pull off these kinds of big tiaras so overall this is a good look for her IMO. She wore that dress last year at the South korea state dinner and while I didnt love it then and still don’t, I think it looks comfortable as these dresses go and shows off the jewels.
Kate’s absence seems very very noticeable.
I’m sorry that woman’s grizzly face is impossible to look at even when framed by diamonds.
I was wondering how long it would take for a comment like this, lol.
Agree totally. However she fits right in with that family, none of them age well. Look at Anne, she looks like an old boot, all wrinkles and no shine. Chuck looks as if they’ve dug him up after he was prematurely buried.
Anne looks fine for a non botoxed 70-something. Especially considering she spends her life outdoors.
OMG people in their 70’s have the nerve to walk around looking like people in their 70’s. No filler, no Botox, no cat faces, and no duck lips. It’s almost like what humans are supposed to look like.
While Anne could update her hairstyle, she looks fine as someone in their 70s. I agree that we need to normalize what non botox and non filler people look like. And while I have no issue when people criticize Camilla for her morals, she is also someone who hasn’t jacked her face to oblivion.
I know this is shallow as hell, but there is nothing more disappointing than an unattractive woman dripping in jewels.
I was just getting ready to post the same thing. For some reason she can carry off all those diamonds.
I thinks it’s the dated fluffy hair. Big hair makes the tiara look balanced if that makes sense. Looking back at Diana in a tiara with her short but full hair is such a different feel than seeing Kate in a tiara. Idk, Diana just carried her tiaras well. If I think it about it, Camilla’s winged hair isn’t that different from Diana’s. Or am I seeing things😂. Maybe that they both feel like 80s hair?
Camilla had a more farrah Fawcett hair style. Diana had a nice short hair cut. She did not have the big hair like ferg ie
I think its the fluffy hair as well (and Diana definitely had fluffy hair in the 80s.) Think of QEII’s hair – while not “fluffy” she always wore it in those curls that also framed a tiara well.
Kate does her hair in more modern updos that don’t always work well with tiaras.
I remember Diana had a nice style where she had her hair in curls and short look, ca. 1991-92. She got a new “sleek” look after that. The tiaras looked good on her especially with more curls.
Kate wears a tiara like a headband. They are meant to sit straight on the head like a crown.
You’re so right, Megan. She wears them incorrectly and too far back on her head. Depending on which one she wears, the jewels don’t hang or swing properly when they are tilted.
I don’t think that anyone pulls off that many diamonds. It’s too much and no one piece gets the spotlight so it ends up looking like someone playing dress-up with fake jewelry. I think it looks incredibly tacky and insecure. And don’t get me started on puffy shoulders + a drop waist. I guess she has a weird obsession with bad 80s fashion. There is no excuse for that dress.
The Sheikha Jawaher by contrast lets her own beauty shine and her dress was gorgeous.
Agree to disagree. I like seeing big jewelry at events like this.
I have to agree with @Josephine. I love a big statement piece but all of it together is just tacky. None of it shines.
Also, Cowmilla dulls everything in her orbit.
I really enjoy coming on here and talking about the tiaras but I mean yeah I think it’s jarring to see. I don’t think these are good people so seeing them decked out in jewels is just kind of funny. I’m still interested though😂. It’s also different when other guests are wearing tiaras idk?
I agree Josephine but what is weird to me is that a multi-strand pearl necklace would have gone great with the dress and diamond tiara and earrings and would have been a nice nod to the giftor. Why didn’t she wear it?
Is it deemed gauche by British posh folks to wear a gift the same day that someone has given you? I know some people suspect that the Queen would wear gifts the next day, for the return dinners. But I always thought that she would wait so she could plan an outfit around the gift. In this case, Pearls would have looked fabulous with her outfit. So I don’t get it. Just like I don’t get why Kate has never worn in public the diamond polar bear brooch. I was always taught that to show appreciation, you wear a gift, preferably in the presence of the giftor, at least once. You don’t just tuck it away to never be seen again. Or, is this not considered rude in the UK?
I’ve only just clocked it – the necklace that Sidepiece Seabiscuit is wearing… is Her Late Maj’s WEDDING TIARA. Many of the tiaras in the Royal Vaults are convertible. That was one. I remember it being said on the day of the Late Queen’s wedding to Prince Philip, the tiara suffered a mishap (probably as a result of being put on the wire). The jeweler had to be summoned to repair it on the fly before the wedding.
I don’t know why, but Bride of Chucky wearing tiara pieces so associated with Chucky’s mother, it completely gives me the ick. It’s like, she’s not actually wearing the Late Queen’s skin… but she kind of is, in a symbolic way? And I feel that’s what she’s trying to project when she wears them. It’s the act of a conqueror, not a “dutiful wife”. She’s definitely trying to telegraph to all and sundry that she’s the power behind the throne and that Cluck is weak and ineffective. Absolute cringe.
I agree that Camilla usually wears large tiaras well but this one is a miss to me. Her hair style detracts from the elegant simplicity of the kokoshnik and makes it seem oddly proportioned
Kind of horrified to see Sidepiece Seabiscuit wearing that tiara. It’s different to her wedding tiara, but on similar lines. Originally commissioned by Queen Alexandra.
https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2023/09/the-twelve-tiaras-of-queen-elizabeth-ii.html
Decked out in diamonds, wearing one of Elizabeth’s favorite tiaras. Lordy.
Her necklace was also Elizabeth’s fringe given to her for her wedding in 1947.
Why is Camilla wearing QEIi’s portrait along with Charles’?
The pictures are family orders. They are only given to women in the family, and usually only after years of being a working Royal. Every monarch has a new one made with their picture to give out.
And they just end up looking cluttered. Far too much jewellery, far too many unearned medals and awards.
I guess that explains why Kate didn’t have them. Meow!
It normally does not take years to get the royal family order. Diana got hers fairly quickly. Sophie, after a couple of years as I recall. Mrs. Wails is the one who only got hers from QEII after a noticeably long time.
The post-it portraits are terribly special @ Tuesday! 🤣
And Camilla never wanted any of this.
Absolutely not! It was all for love. Lol!
Tessa:
Now you made me laugh😉
Peg wears all to those medals. His face looks dirty from that beard
Without Mumblina there it looks like there was no candelabras needed on the table or maybe it’s past Anne.
It’s almost comical now when it comes the RF and medical musical chairs. As someone who has chronic bronchitis and occasionally acute pneumonia there really are good days and bad days as you get over it (MUMBLINA ARE YOU LISTENING?! Hint Hint, in case you need to workshop any medical ideas for 2025)
Did the fool aka Willwont, go solo or was he home trying to recover from the exhausting day of work 🤔
This crime syndicate er, um, sorry, family…
Camilla wears jewellery well. Much better than Cathy. But that dress is hideous.
Huevo did not seem to have someone walking in with him.
He was walking with Viscountess Hood. She’s a cousin of Hugh Grant. Wonder if she had anything to say to Rothermere?
He was escorting a rather short lady. Possibly someone from the Qatari embassy or the wife of an official.
Pneumonia is something that can come and go in terms of effects so that was credible. But there is more to it.
Sophie and Anne were seen with the new family order and it makes me wonder if Kate was not given it yet, which would explain why she’s not doing formal events where the family orders are worn.
A friend had pneumonia when she was in her forties, it took ages to get fully over it, and she gave up smoking. Unfortunately she went back to the smoking after a couple of years.
A good friend of mine has been dealing with walking pneumonia for the past few weeks. Says it’s awful and he has literally no energy. It’s all over the place in Canada, I wonder if that’s what she’s struggling with? Especially since she’s a dedicated smoker.
It’s almost comical — but also very thoughtless. Can we assume that it’s both generally known and absolutely certain that Camilla doesn’t have a form of pneumonia that’s contagious? Charles might be fine taking his chances sharing space with her, but protocol shouldn’t demand that anyone, let alone a valued guest, dine seated next to someone who might have a communicable disease.
The Qatari Royals look awesome: Almost exactly like my bookish childhood imagination believed true royalty should look. Camilla has nice jewelry.
@Blithe – I think Camilla developed pneumonia after a viral infection which must have been picked up on the tour of Australia and Samoa, or her sojourn at a spa in India. I had it 2017 after a holiday in Spain and have never fully got over it. I am 3 years younger than Camilla and I can sympathise, even though I don’t like the woman. This form of pneumonia is not contagious. It is the after effect of a viral infection and it can affect a person like long Covid.
@blithe, most forms of pneumonia are viral, hence they are contagious. But this is usually only for a period of time. She’s probably now dealing with the after effects of the infection but she absolutely would have been contagious for a period of time (technically, it may be the bug that causes the pneumonia that is contagious). I learned this when I was at University and a classmate walked in sat down next to me and declared that he had been dealing with walking pneumonia. Guess what? I caught it and developed pneumonia. I was so pissed.
@Jennifer – Willwont did indeed go solo but he walked into the banqueting hall with some obscure aristocrat or other that nobody has ever heard of. She looked to be about 60. Viscountess Hood apparently.
When I think of Cam perusing the royal collection to choose which fabulous jewels she will wear, I always think of the cartoons of Scrooge McDuck swimming in gold pieces and counting his hoard. The jewels are fabulous, now she needs fashion advice to have clothes that showcase them better.
Another velvet housecoat masquerading as a dress.. as for the diamonds and tiara they would look better on a donkey than her. This mistress becoming queen really trailer parked up the BRF.
Exactly!!!! You can’t really elevate a mistress. You just lower every one else down by comparison to make her look elevated. Charles has been doing it for decades. Now the royals are in the gutter. Pure trailer trash
“That homewrecker Linda what lives two trailers down”
Still putting lipstick on a pig in my opinion. Horsilla is ugly from the inside out and there is no changing that.
Truer words have never been spoken.☝🏾
Is that food stuck between her two front teeth??
No. It looks like one tooth (crown?) is a different shade?
It’s really starting to annoy me how the BRF are centered in the official state banquet images. The photos and videos of the banquet always center the monarch and spouse instead of the host and the guest of honor. Often, like with this visit, that means the visiting first lady isn’t included in the image
Episodic fatigue – sounds like the new intermittent cancer.
Thank goodness Chuckie skipped the special royal breeches.
1000 % also the weird brass buckle shoes.
Is the tiara Camilla wearing the one that Beatrice wore for her wedding? It looks similar to that one if it’s not the same one. What a dilemma, picking which diamond encrusted head piece to wear next. /s As for Kate, it definitely feels like she’s been put on punishment for some reason. Is Crocmilla still mad about the fake tiara at the coronation, lol?
No, Beatrice wore the Queen Mary Fringe tiara like the Queen did on her wedding day. Camilla is wearing the City of London fringe necklace given to Elizabeth as a wedding gift.
@MsIam – Camilla is wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik tiara which dates from 1888. QEII’s wedding tiara, also worn by Princess Beatrice at her wedding, was the Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara made in 1919.
Can someone get a tailor on staff for the royals?
Cam’s gown is too big for her in the shoulders, which is further emphasized by the sash and brooches. It makes her look like a doddering old biddy despite her being dripping in diamonds.
It wouldn’t matter. Horsilla has slumped shoulders, so everything looks dowdy and ill-fitting on her, even when they add puffs to the shoulders of her dresses.
She’s a mess. Diamonds only throw her dowdiness into sharp relief.
I love Sheikha Jawaher’s outfit. It’s beautiful and it’s regal. It reminds me of something from the Tudor period, a time in history I love reading about. I bet it moved really well when she walked. Camilla looks dowdy and over jewelled when compared with the Sheikah’s outfit.
I think she looks amazing and doesn’t need a wheelbarrow full of flashy jewelry to compliment it. Cam always comes off looking dowdy and weighted down with too many gaudy trinkets.
I also think she looked beautiful and stately. She looked almost unadorned, and beside her Camilla looked like a Christmas tree. I’ve only seen the formal photo and couldn’t make out the Sheikha’s earrings. Were they gold and rubies? That would make sense with her dress and cape.
So Cowmilla was running around unmasked and breathing on people whole she told them she had pneumonia?! This can’t be real.
I’m naturally nosy, so I want to know who Billy Idol’s dinner partner was.
The wife of the alternate Lord in Waiting to David Cholmondeley. Really!
@Saucy&Sassy – Viscountess Hood, the 60-something wife of Henry Lyttelton Alexander Hood, 8th Viscount Hood. She is the maternal cousin of actor Hugh Grant.
Camilla’s dress is just tragic – 80s prom dress. The tiara is nice, but the necklace and earrings look terrible with each other and the tiara. There should be one statement piece, the tiara, and the other jewelry should coordinate, not compete and try to upstage.
This woman has no sense that the RR and the royalists are talking at her mouth, but that “the subjects” don’t forget who she really is. She has no humility, no class, no modesty and no dignity…. and the more she adorns herself with mountains of diamonds, the more it becomes apparent who she is.
I agree. She looks tacky!
So…. Sometime in the 70’s… someone said to her “I like your hair style” and she’s run with it ever since…..
That person was Charles. Charles likes it.
We will be saying the same thing about Kate in 20 years when it’s down her back straggly and dyed within an inch of its life.
For those interested, the history of Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik tiara, worn by Camilla at the state banquet for the Emir of Qatar and his wife, can be found here: https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2017/05/queen-alexandras-kokoshnik-tiara.html
Queen Alexandra showed Camilla s great grandmother Alice keppel the door after Edward vii died and now Camilla is wearing jewels worn by Alexandra. Things take unexpected turns
I swear her whole infiltration into the BRF, hooking Cluck, alienating him from his wife and children (and most of the rest of his family), it gives the very strong impression that she’s enacting a revenge plot to avenge her great granny.
Destroy the fam, wear their jewels, drink wine in the daytime. That’s pretty much her thing. I also think the India trip is her wanting to replicate the Delhi Durbar, and she’s in for a very rude awakening there. Looking forward to her looking a complete arse sulking in cars and walking barefooted. Maybe she’ll pick up a fun parasite or two on the trip.
Camilla is low-class and a frump.
Why does she always have food mashed inbetween her teeth? And all the teeth on her right side are tinged pink. She should really stop into a powder room to floss before posing for pictures. Assuming the food in her teeth is from whatever meal they just ate. I noticed it in her last public appearance photos too – teeth full of food. Bleh.
It is odd that Charles III served shellfish at this dinner, since his guests more than likely view shellfish as not quite haram, but not quite halal either. A strange choice when so many other , uncontroversial foods are available.
My wife is Muslim. I am Jewish (raised Orthodox/Kosher) Jews don’t eat shellfish. Theoretically nothing on this menu is 100% halal unless certified halal. But Muslims do eat shellfish. If anything, I stick away from serving shellfish because of allergies. And iirc late Queen stayed away from them incase of food poisoning – which seems the sensible thing to do with visiting foreign dignitaries
It’s ALL a deplorable farce…ALL OF IT!