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TL; DR: 

  • Kate Middleton photographed Camilla Parker Bowles for the cover of Country Life magazine.
  • Camilla Parker Bowles requested Kate Middleton be the cover photographer. 
  • They “had a lot of fun,” according to Camilla Parker Bowles. 
  • Camilla Parker Bowles called the photo shoot with Kate Middleton “very relaxed” and “very casual.” 

Camilla Parker Bowles is opening about her magazine cover taken by Kate Middleton. In a TV special, the Duchess of Cornwall describes a “very casual” magazine cover shoot that had her stepdaughter-in-law behind the camera. 

Camilla Parker Bowles guest-edited Country Life magazine to mark turning 75

Typically, the royal family celebrates birthdays privately. However, the Duchess of Cornwall did something special —  and public — in honor of turning 75 on July 17, 2022. 

She guest-edited the July 13 issue of Country life magazine. Not only that but she appeared on the cover. 

Kate’s photo shows Camilla in a blue dress. She’s smiling at the camera as she sits on a bench in her garden holding a basket full of geraniums. Also seen in the photo is a superimposed ladybug, something the magazine includes for readers to find. 

Camilla Parker Bowles says she and Kate Middleton ‘had a lot of fun’ doing the magazine cover shoot together

In an ITV documentary about country living, cameras followed Camilla as she guest-edited Country Life. At the same time, she also juggled royal duties leading up to Platinum Jubilee weekend in June 2022. 

Camilla, a self-described “country woman,” shared what it had been like to be photographed by Kate. In a clip of Camilla’s Country Life, she said the two enjoyed the experience.

“She did very good pictures, and she does it sort of naturally,” Camilla said of her stepdaughter-in-law. “We had a lot of fun doing it.” 

“It was very relaxed and, of course, very kind of the Duchess of Cambridge,” she added. “She came with her camera and she’s an extremely good photographer. And it was all very casual. There wasn’t much hair and make-up. It was just done in the garden with a lot of laughs.”

“It was a lovely way of doing it,” she concluded.

Additionally, Camilla shared what she thought of the cover photo. “If I can get over the fact I’m looking at myself, I think that they’re very nice and I think they’re just what’s needed for Country Life,” she said.  

Camilla Parker Bowles suggested Kate Middleton take her photo for the magazine

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The Duchess of Cornwall had the idea of Kate, an avid photographer and the person behind many Cambridge family photos, taking her picture. Initially, the suggestion of “Catherine” confused the Country Life team. 

“She immediately said ‘Catherine’ and none of us could think who she meant,” Mark Hedges, the editor of Country Life, told ITV. “And then some light bulbs started going on” and they realized Camilla meant Prince William’s wife.

Paula Lester, the magazine’s managing and features editor, offered up some details about working with Kate. She “took her commission very seriously and was incredibly professional about the task at hand,” Lester told Country Life. 

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