14-05-2025
Queen Camilla visits Westminster Abbey to unveil a foundation stone in tribute to King Charles - and catches up with her TV star pal
Queen Camilla looked to be enjoying the sunshine as she visited Westminster Abbey on Wednesday morning to unveil a foundation stone for a building that has been constructed in honour of her husband, King Charles.
The royal, 77, travelled to the Westminster to view the earliest stages of The King Charles III Sacristy, which is currently being built next to the historic Abbey.
The Queen looked regal as she stepped out in an elegant polka-dot monochrome Fiona Clare couture maxi dress, teamed with comfortable black heels and a matching clutch bag.
To accessorise, the queen sported her glitzy £4,500 Van Cleef & Arpels 18 carot gold bracelet featuring the famous blue clover motifs and donned chic pearl earrings.
She wore her signature platinum blonde tresses down in a wavy blow-dry and opted for natural makeup with a hint of pink lipstick.
Camilla, who is patron of the Westminster Abbey Sacristy Project, was welcomed by the Dean of Westminster and met the architect behind the plans, Ptolemy Dean.
The new structure will be home to the welcome, ticket and security facilities to help shift footfall away from the Abbey itself in order that it is left as a sacred place.
The Queen also joined a ceremony at the Sacristy site, which included prayers and a performance by the Abbey Choir.
Camilla beamed as she unveiled the foundation stone and gave a short speech after laying the rock.
The Sacristy is being built on the footprint of the medieval Great Sacristy, which was built in the 1250s. It's where monks used to keep vestments, altar linens, and other sacred items used in daily worship.
Westminster Abbey was consecrated in 1269 and has always played a significant part in the lives of the Royal Family.
It attracts millions of tourists every year and has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066, while also hosting 16 royal weddings; some former monarchs, such as Elizabeth I, are buried there.
The Queen also toured Westminster Abbey, met with staff and took a look at the updated Brontë sisters memorial.
Writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne's names were printed on the Abbey 85 years ago but they were spelt wrong, reading 'Bronte' instead of 'Brontë'.
This was updated in September last year to add the diaeresis, following uproar from fans of the literary siblings.
Queen Camilla also met up with her old pal Alan Titchmarsh, who is also an Ambassador to the Sacristy Project. The pair joined a reception with those who have worked on the building.
The royal is good friends with the gardening presenter and even appeared on an episode of Gardeners' World with Alan in 2021.
Camilla and Charles are known for being interested in nature, sustainability and the environment with them taking great pride in their gardens at Highgrove.
The queen also met with Thomas van Straubenzee, a global property businessman, who is one of Prince William's closest friends and Princess Charlotte's godfather.
This visit comes as Queen Camilla became emotional at a charity function on Tuesday evening when a video was shown of her late brother.
She was attending a reception and awards ceremony for Elephant Family, set up by Mark Shand, who tragically died aged just 62 and falling and suffering a head injury in 2014.
The glittering and star-studded event at The Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, West London, attracted guests including Princess Beatrice - who looked stylish in a red Rebecca Vallance gown - Lady Marina Windsor, Ronaldo Nazario, the Brazilian footballer, actors Ed Westwick and Amy Jackson and Sophie Ellis-Bexter.
In an impromptu speech the King, who accompanied his wife as joint president of the charity, which is now part of Charles' British Asian Trust, said 'collaboration is far better than conflict' as he gave an impromptu speech.
The royal is good friends with the gardening presenter and even appeared on an episode of Gardners' World with Alan in 2021
But it was the moment that Camilla, 77, wearing a cream tunic top with gold embroidery and cream palazzo trousers by Anna Valentine, watched a posthumous video of her brother in which he spoke about his 'optimism' for saving endangered elephants that brought her to tears.
She was joined by her sister, Annabel Elliot, for the event.
After presenting a conservation award on stage, Charles, appropriately wearing a tie with an elephant motif, made an off-the-cuff speech.
He told guests: 'This evening is an opportunity as well to pay a special tribute, I think, to all the wonderful people who are doing all the work on the ground in India to rescue not just elephants now, but even more species as the trust and the [Elephant] Family develop an even greater ability to manage the human and animal conflict.
'And it just seems to me that this is a great example of why collaboration is far better than conflict and also why, if we're doing to rescue this poor planet from continuing degradation and restore some harmony to the proceedings, we must also understand that whatever we take and exploit from nature we need to give something back in return to enable nature to sustain us.'
Charles and Camilla arrived at the Temperate Gate of the Royal Botanic Gardens in West London where they were met by a stilt walker dressed as a peacock before moving straight into a private reception for 50 guests at the Marianne North Gallery.
They then walked down an avenue which was flanked by 30 egg sculptures which were part of the Big Egg Hunt, a scheme where 123 eggs were placed along a public trail across London to raise awareness of the wildlife charity.
