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    How One "Embarrassing Mishap" Showed Queen Camilla's "True Colors" at a Royal Event

    "It slowly dawned on me who she was."

    Amy Mackelden's avatar
    By Amy Mackelden
    Published 2 March 2026 In News

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    Queen Camilla wearing a fedora with a blue band and pale blue coat
    (Image credit: Getty Images)
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    As the wife of The King, Queen Camilla spends much of her life attending official royal engagements and events. According to one celebrity who attended an engagement at Camilla's London residence, Clarence House, The Queen's "true colors" became evident following an allegedly "embarrassing mishap," via the Express.

    Speaking to the Observer, BBC Radio DJ Sara Cox said of Camilla, "Yes, she's a laugh. I met her at a celebration for authors that she had at Clarence House."

    Cox continued, "I mistook her daughter, Laura [Lopes], for an author that I half knew, and so I said to Laura, 'Come over. I'll introduce you to [Camilla]. Let's go over and say hi.'"

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    Unaware of the mistake she'd made, Cox recalled that Camilla's daughter "Laura played along." She elaborated, "[S]o we went over, and it slowly dawned on me who she was, because Camilla was like 'Hiiii' to her own daughter."

    Queen Camilla speaks to Sara Cox during a reception with finalists, judges and celebrity readers, to celebrate the final of BBC's creative writing competition 500 Words at Windsor Castle on February 25, 2026

    Sara Cox with Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle on February 25, 2026.

    (Image credit: Jonathan Brady - Pool/Getty Images)

    The DJ also reflected on Queen Camilla's friendship with the late author Jilly Cooper. "It came as no surprise at all that Camilla and Jilly Cooper got on really well," Cox told the outlet. "I can see them as real kindred spirits."

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    Following Cooper's death in October 2025, Camilla shared a personal tribute to the Rivals author. "I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly's death last night," she wrote. "Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades."

    Camilla continued, "In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many—and it was a particular pleasure to see her just a few weeks ago at my Queen's Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show."

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    The ultimate daily digest for women of power, purpose, and style.

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    Finally, The Queen wrote, "I join my husband The King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family. And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs."

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    Amy Mackelden
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    Weekend Editor

    Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.

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