New Book Reveals for the First Time a Poignant Two-Word Promise Queen Camilla Made Immediately After Queen Elizabeth Died

King Charles and Queen Camilla during the mourning period for Queen Elizabeth in September 2022

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 22 January 2024

Royal biographer Robert Hardman’s latest, The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, gives ample detail surrounding September 8, 2022—the day Queen Elizabeth died at age 96 at her beloved Balmoral in Scotland—and the days immediately after.

After the family gathered at Balmoral, the new King Charles and Queen Camilla flew together from Aberdeen Airport to RAF Northolt, in West London. From there, they drove to Buckingham Palace, where the new King asked his driver to stop outside of the gates. He made a beeline for the mourners outside, ready to shake their hands.

The first mourner reportedly asked, “Can I hug you?” to which the King said, “Of course.” Camilla, the book recounts, later recalled to friends that one of her strongest memories from that walkabout was an interaction with a woman who said to her, “Look after him for us,” of course alluding to Charles. Her poignant two-word reply? “I will,” she promised.

"The Making of a King" by Robert Hardman

Following Her late Majesty’s death but before leaving for London, Charles, along with his son and heir, Prince William, were said to have sat down to watch what was essentially a training video, The Mirror reports. It is said to have been prepared in 2015 by Sir Clive Alderton, Charles and Camilla’s private secretary; its contents ran through the first days of Charles’ reign and the most complicated feature of that time—the Accession Council.

As the rest of the royal family ate at Balmoral, father and son sat together to watch the video on an office computer. Later, Alderton described Charles’ “informal formality” in a meeting with staff.

At the same time, Charles was carefully writing and rewriting a speech before he delivered it in the evening. Camilla, for her part, sat in a corner of the Blue Drawing Room, positioned so she could watch Charles without him being able to see her. “This was in case the speech set her off crying, which it did, so she wouldn’t set him off in turn,” The Mirror writes.

The Making of a King is out now.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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