Queen Camilla Lives ‘Life According to a Spreadsheet,’ Expert Says
Gone are the days of Queen Camilla’s spontaneity. A royal author says every moment is planned for the 76-year-old. Inside Camilla’s “very different” life as a British royal and why she lives “according to a spreadsheet.”
Queen Camilla’s life ‘runs on rails’ with the occasional weekend away
According to Angela Levin, a royal author and expert, the former Duchess of Cornwall doesn’t get much time to herself, let alone visits with family and friends.
“After particularly hectic engagements or foreign trips, she can decompress for a day or two, or perhaps a weekend,” Levin wrote, referring to Ray Mill, Camilla’s Wiltshire, England, home (via Daily Mail). “But everything else is very different. Once known for her spontaneity, her love of riding, good company, and her family, Camilla’s life now runs on rails.”
Levin continued: “Every moment of most days is now carefully scheduled,” including time with her children and grandchildren.
The simple act of picking up the phone or stopping by to see someone isn’t an option. Rather, it’s “life according to a spreadsheet,” with “little time to cook” and “far more time spent with the hairdresser.” There isn’t as much time for charity work. And while her “friends understand the constraints,” Levin added, they “admit it’s hard to see her.”
Camilla’s learned to get more ‘organized’ in recent years
As the “burden” of Camilla’s role within the royal family increased over the last five years as Queen Elizabeth II’s health declined, the “spreadsheet” way of life intensified. “She has undoubtedly learned a discipline and got much more organized,” a friend of Camilla’s told the author.
“It’s quite something, as she is not a naturally organized person,” they explained. “She had to do so because there is so much going on.” Had Camilla not, “there wouldn’t have been time for her to see her children or grandchildren, which are so important to her.”
Despite Camilla’s busy schedule, a friend shared she’s become more confident through it all. “I think the main change is one of confidence, which comes from a real embrace of the duty and responsibility of the role,” they said.
Camilla gave up her ‘free-spirited’ life for King Charles
Now for the question of why? “Why would a fun-loving, free-spirited, irreverent — somewhat lazy — woman sign up for a life of unbelievably hard work and duty at a time she might have hoped to spend life doing exactly as she pleased?” Levin asked.
The answer, per the Camilla: From Outcast to Queen Consort author, is love. “As it happens, I think she is enjoying her new role. But Camilla is doing this for Charles.”
“She has put up with years of insults — the conniving ‘other woman’ — when she could have walked away,” Levin went on. “Now in her eighth decade, she is determined to help Charles make the best of a huge and perhaps unmanageable role.”
Camilla became Queen Consort when King Charles III took the throne after his mother’s death in September 2022. She, along with her husband, was crowned in May 2023.
