FOR Duty, FOR Love

At an age when many people would be retired, QUEEN CAMILLA is still focused on her royal responsibilities. Newsweek goes behind the scenes to examine her work and its impact

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PUBLIC DUTIES Queen Camilla and King Charles greet well-wishers during a visit to Middlesbrough, northeast England, on February 13.

OUEEN CAMILLA'S LIMOUSINE STOPS IN front of the crowd of cheering supporters. An aide pulls open the Bentley's armorplated door, letting in a rush of cold air. It's showtime. Her Majesty, wearing a heavy coat, hat and gloves, exits the vehicle to greet the schoolchildren who have waited outside on the clear, frosty February morning in Middlesbrough, northeast England, to catch a glimpse of their queen. It is just one of a couple of hundred events Camilla will attend this year.

Camilla's journey into royal life has been perhaps the most complicated of any, from her early relationship with King Charles III through his later marriage to Princess Diana and then the gradual move to bring her out of the shadows and into the light.

Much is said about the significance of the moment Queen Elizabeth II in February 2022 said it was her wish that Camilla would be known as queen rather than princess consort, regarded as a ringing endorsement months before the long-reigning monarch died.

Speaking with Newsweek, an aide brushes off the suggestion that Camilla sees such moments as significant. "It wasn't the role or titlewhether as duchess [of Cornwall] or queen-that appealed to her, it was being with the man she loved.

"That meant accepting the duties that would come with him, even at a time of life when most of her contemporaries were deadheading roses in the garden or having lovely cruises in the Med.

"She was very willing to undertake the role and responsibilities, but it was never part of the goal of what she wanted from life. And of course, it's come with a lot of hard toil and quite a lot of sacrifice as well because everything she does is now in the public eye."