Speaker 1: A calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue.
I am your host, Mark Francis, Queen Camilla's friends say
she has embraced the demands of royal life despite never
expecting to take on such a prominent public role. Camilla,
who recently celebrated her seventy ninth birthday, spent much of
her adult life away from the spotlight before marrying the
future King Charles in two thousand and five. She became
queen when Charles ascended the throne. Friends, speaking to Hell magazine,
said the transition has been dramatic, but one she has
accepted with remarkable ease. Author Catherine Mayer, who knows the queen,
said this is a woman who really was very happy
not having a career, and who liked to potter and
do things that interested her. Now suddenly she has this
huge role. She added she lived a lot of a
life in different directions to most of us. Broadcaster author
and former MP Charles Brandreth also said Camilla has adjusted
to a workload that would surprise many people her age.
You might think she could slow down, but they are
having to quicken the pace, he told the magazine. But
I never get the impression that she is doing it reluctantly.
Brandreth also described Camilla as someone who remains grounded despite
her position. I don't think she sees birthdays as a
big deal, but family is very important to her, so
that is a kind of celebration, he said. He added
that when people remind her she is approaching another milestone birthday,
she pulls her face and says, thank you for reminding me.
I think the truth is she's in a good place. Though.
When you say to her, well done, it's going so well,
she strugs and says, well on we go. The article
also highlights an unusual piece of royal trivia. Genealogical research
has linked Queen Camilla to singers Madonna and Celine Dion,
with all three reportedly descending from the same seventeenth century
French Canadian couple. Actress Angelina Jolie has also been connected
through the same extended family tree. Camilla is reportedly willing
to support efforts to repair the royal family's relationship with
Prince Harry, but one report claims she remains deeply cautious
about trusting him again. According to Rob Shooter's Naughty but
Nice newsletter Camilla backed Harry's recent reunion with King Charles,
but is approaching any reconciliation with caution. One unnamed Pallace
source claimed Camilla wants peace because she loves Charles. She
watched this family fracture in public, and if there's a
chance to heal it, she'll stand beside her husband. But
forgiveness doesn't erase memory, and she hasn't forgotten what Harry
has said and done. Another source claimed she's convinced Harry
could turn on the family again the moment things don't
go his way. Her priority is protecting the King from
another round of heartbreak. She won't let Charles be blindsided twice.
The newsletter also claims Camilla has continued to strengthen her
relationship with Prince William as the future of the monarchy.
A source said Camilla understands how this story ends. One day,
William will be king. She wants his respect now because
he'll ultimately shape her place in the institution after Charles.
Nothing has strengthened their bond more than their caution about Harry,
and Inside acclaimed neither believes one meeting wipes the sleet clean.
Trust has to be rebuilt, and trust has to be rebuilt,
and they don't think Harry is there yet. Prince Edward's
former girlfriend, West End actress Ruthie Henshall has opened up
about what it was like to face the royal family's
famous bow Moral Test. Henshall, who dated Edward for five
years during the nineteen nineties, has written about their relationship
in a new memoir, The Show Girl The Prince. The
book covers these secretive early days of their romance, visits
to Buckingham Palace and tea with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor.
It also includes Henshall's experience of being invited to bow Moral,
the Royal family's private Scottish residence. The so called bow
Moral Test has long been seen as an unofficial initiation
for serious royal partners. Princess Diana visited in nineteen eighty.
Catherine spent time there before marrying Prince William. Megan Markle
was invited in twenty eighteen. Speaking on Hello Magazine, a
Right Royal podcast, Henschell said she arrived without knowing what
to expect and was surprised to be given her own
personal maid. Despite the grandeur of the estate. She remembered
the family behaving in a relaxed and surprisingly ordinary way
that they were away from the public duties. There were
outdoor cookouts and according to Henschell, no protection officers hovering
around the gathering. King Charles, who was then the Prince
of Wales, even took charge of drinks. They were all
quite jolly. I think everyone was jolly by the time
we'd had a few martinis. Charles was manning the bar.
He made a very strong martini. He probably did that
on purpose, Henchel said. A stay at bou Moral can
still be demanding for newcomers. Guests are expected to understand
royal protocol, keep conversations flowing, and be prepared for sudden
changes to the day's schedule. That can mean quickly changing
from muddy outdoor clothes into formal evening whear while appearing
completely comfortable with the family's love of hunting, walking and
outdoor life. The bow Moral test has become part of
royal folkore, particularly because Princess Diana was said to have
impressed Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during her first visit.
Royal commentator Omut Scurby previously described the experience as more
of a royal initiation than a simple country house invitation.
Out of those privileged enough to have been invited to
Bowmoral Castle during the summer, not everyone has passed. Diana
famously flew through it thanks to her aristocratic background and upbringing,
but the likes of Scheri Blair and Boris Johnson have not.
If you've scored an invite, prepared to brush up on
your royal protocol, have a wealth of talking points at
the ready, and an outfit for every occasion from hunting
to black tie, and most importantly, be on your best
behavior at all times. Social etiquette is a must. If
you don't like the food, eat it. If you don't
like trampling through the highlands in the wind and rain,
tough more pallaceing just a moment. The British royal family
is home to one of the world's most famous jewelry collections,
but not every glittering piece comes with a glamorous reputation.
HOWI magazine took a look at some pieces with a
colorful backstory. Over the years, several royal tiaras and crowns
have become surrounded by stories of bad luck, tragedy, and
even alleged curses. Perhaps the best known example is the
Hesse Strawberry Leaf Tiara, a diamond headpiece designed by Prince
Albert in eighteen sixty one as a wedding gift for
his daughter, Princess Alice. The tiara's dark reputation began almost
immediately Prince Albert died of typhoid before he could attend
Alice's wedding. Years later, Alice endured heartbreaking personal losses when
her young son, Prince Frederick, died after falling from a window,
followed by the deaths of her daughter, Princess Marie, and
then Alice herself during a diphtheria outbreak. The tiara later
passed to Alice's son Ernest, Grand Duke of Hesse. His
first wife, Victoria Melita, wore it to the coronation of
Sir Nicholas the second. Their only son later died of
typhoid and the marriage ended in divorce. Ernest's second wife
also inherited the tiara, and eventually it was worn by
Princess Cecil of Greece and Denmark after worrying it to
King George the Six Coronations. Silk bordered a flight while
traveling to a family wedding during the journey, she went
into premature labor and the aircraft crashed into a factory
chimney and heavy fog over Belgium, killing everyone aboard. According
to the legend, the Tiara itself survived the crash and
is now held by the foundation of the House of Hesse.
Another royal jewel often mentioned in stories of superstition as
the Oriental Circlet Tiara, created in eighteen fifty three. It
originally featured more than two tentsand and six hundred diamonds
along with Ople's. While Queen Alexandra inherited the peace, she
reportedly believed oples brought misfortune. In nineteen oh two, she
had every opal removed and replaced with Burmese rubies from
Queen Victoria's collection under Queen Victoria's wishes that Tiara is
traditionally reserved for queens and future queens. The Grand Duchess
Vladimir Tiara has a different kind of dramatic history commission
for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, the Tiara was
left behind when she fled the Russian Revolution after the
assassination of Sir Nicholas the Second. The jewel was later
secretly recovered from the palace and brought to Britain. Maria
never saw it again. Eventually, it was sold to Queen
Mary and later inherited by Queen Elizabeth Second, who famously
wore it for decades after having it modified with interchangeable emeralds.
It was also the final tiara Queen Elizabeth War before
her death in twenty twenty two. Perhaps no royal jewel
has inspired more debate than the Koe Nua diamond. The
famous gem, whose name means mountain of light, has changed
hands through multiple empires over hundreds of years before becoming
part of the British Crown Jewels after the Second Anglo
Sikh War. Legend holds that the diamond brings terrible misfortune
to any man who wears it, while women are said
to be spared the curse. Queen Victoria first wore the
diamond as approached before it was eventually set into a crown,
worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the nineteen
thirty seven coronation and again during Queen Elizabeth's the Second's
coronation in nineteen fifty three. Today, the Koenor remains on
display with the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London,
although its ownership continues to be disputed, with India, Iran
and Afghanistan all having laid claim to the historic diamond.
And there you have it. If you would like to
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is Palace Intrigue and continumes