Queen Camilla has set the record straight on claims that she is a big smoker during a reception at Buckingham Palace held on Wednesday, Nov. 13, days after her son, Tom Parker Bowles, addressed the ill-famed reputation of his mother about her drinking and smoking habits.
When Buckingham Palace announced that Her Majesty had to pull out of her scheduled engagements due to a chest infection, the rumor mill went overdrive with speculations about its cause. Some claimed she had COVID and got the nasty infection from not wearing masks during public engagements.
Meanwhile, others claimed it was from her smoking and drinking, and suggested that she should lay off the booze and cigarettes.
The public has this notion that at 77 years old, Camilla still puffs on the occasional cigarette and her portrayal as such in the Netflix series The Crown and in the British parody show The Windsors only fueled the idea.
On the contrary, Camilla stopped the nasty smoking habit many years ago. While the royals abide by their “never complain, never explain” motto, she just couldn’t help but deny those claims, albeit subtly, during the reception she and King Charles III hosted for the Film and TV Charity at Buckingham Palace. The topic of smoking cigarettes came up during her chat with Paddington in Peru star Emily Mortimer about her mother, Penelope, who Camilla knows personally.
The actress told Camilla that “Penelope sends her love” to which the Queen asked how she was doing. Mortimer laughed and replied, “Oh, she’s still smoking as much as ever.” Camilla laughed in response and asked: “Oh she’s still on the fags?” The actress giggled and replied: “Yes, she’s still on the fags!” then asked Camilla if she has quit smoking to which the Queen proudly shared: “Oh yes, I quit 20 years ago.” Mortimer commended her : “Well done.” (before you get confused, fags here refer to cigarettes and not the offensive term for homosexuals).
This isn’t the first time that rumors about Camilla being a big smoker have been dispelled. Just last month, her son Parker Bowles also shut down the claims and denied that she is a gin drinker during an interview with The Times to promote his new book Cooking and the Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III. He stressed that his mother “never drunk a glass of gin in her life. Doesn’t smoke.”
He added: “My mother hardly drinks. Never seen her so much as tipsy” and called the idea that she is a “gin-swigging chain-smoker” a “totally inaccurate” portrayal. Parker Bowles may not have seen his mother smoke but she used to be a heavy smoker, 30 years on the unhealthy habit, according to reports. She used to smoke 10 sticks a day and only stopped because of her rhinitis and for the sake of Charles, who loathed it. It’s a tough addiction to break but Camilla persevered with the help of health guru Dr. Mosaraf Ali, who guided her on a spiritual journey through the Himalayas. She also did yoga to help with both her back pain and to give up smoking.
But Parker assured that he is “fine” with the fictional representation of his mother and from the looks of it, Camilla isn’t hell-bent on making the naysayers stop either, confident (like her son) that an on-screen portrayal won’t change real-life facts.