Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall recently came out of isolation and reunited with her husband Prince Charles to mark their 15th wedding anniversary together at Scottish retreat Birkhall.
The 72-year-old is currently taking ballet classes with her friends at her home in London to keep herself fit. Camilla revealed she has been taking lessons from the past 18 months and enjoys interacting with Silver Swans ambassador Angela Rippon, of legendary Morecambe & Wise dancing fame, and Dame Darcey Bussell, President of the Royal Academy of Dance on the video chat.
The Duchess said: “I got a group of ancient friends together and the four of us sort of clatter around, and when we’re in London, we do it once a week and it makes all the difference.’’
She was inspired by the Silver Swans ballet classes after learning about them back in 2018. “I thought it was going to be very funny and I was going to laugh at everybody toppling over next door to me, but I think we concentrate so hard we don’t even know what our friend next door is doing,” she added.
“When I stand there I think to myself, ‘Drop your shoulders, breathe deeply, don’t hunch. You might groan a bit afterwards, huff, grunt and everything else. But you do feel so much better. It’s fun.”
She revealed after practicing for 18 months she might have improved but still not ready to perform on the stage. “I was very much a beginner,” she said. “But I do feel after a year, 18 months of doing it, that maybe I have improved a tiny bit. But I certainly am not going to be taking to the stage.”
Camilla talked about the positive impact of joining Silver Swans classes and how dance helped her and her ancient friends maintaining mental and physical health.
“I’ve certainly never done any ballet before, and it doesn’t matter whether you’ve done ballet or not. It’s something that will make you feel better. It gives you a certain amount of confidence in yourself. It’s just a bit of discipline there, which I think we all need in our lives. You might groan a bit afterwards, and huff and grunt and everything else, but you do feel so much better.”
Camilla who was announced as vice-patron of the Royal Academy of Dance talked about her role saying it was “no hardship for me.
” She told Dame Darcey, “I love dance in any form, so it’s a real honor for me to be asked. My visit there was so memorable, first of all, because of the Silver Swans, but actually meeting everybody. It had a wonderful feeling of comradeship and also such a happy place! I think dancing makes you happy.
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The Duchess of Cornwall also talked about how she and Prince Charles are helping charities amid the coronavirus crisis. She said, ‘’It’s very peculiar. Suddenly you look at the diary and everything is scratched out! My husband is a workaholic so he will work wherever he is, so he’s sitting at his desk now working away.”
“We try to do something for all our charities most days to try and give them a bit of encouragement and just try to lend them a bit of our support.”
Camilla explained how she stays active and encourages other people to do the same. “If we don’t, we’ll just seize up and we won’t be able to get out of bed in the morning,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s 10 minutes or 20 minutes, it just starts off the day. I do a combination of a bit of Silver Swans and a bit of pilates and a lot of walking, which I love. It’s what we try and tell people to do to keep their bones strong.”
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