What we know about Camilla's recovery from chest infection
The Queen has returned to work at Clarence House, saying she is 'on the mend'.
The Queen has said she is “getting much better” after spending a week recovering from a chest infection that saw her miss the Remembrance Day services.
Camilla congratulated shortlisted authors at Clarence House on Tuesday afternoon and the winner of the prestigious literary prize will be announced in the evening.
"I’m obviously getting much better. A bit of sort of coughing going on," she said. “I really wanted to come. “I think I’m on the mend, but these things always take a bit of time to get rid of.
“You think you’ve got rid of it, then they just sort of hang on for a little bit, but hopefully I’m on the mend now.”
It is her first public engagement since she contracted the seasonal bug following her long-haul tour to Australia and Samoa two-and-a-half weeks ago.
However, the Queen is not well enough to attend the Gladiator II premiere at Leicester Square on Wednesday night.
Last week, Buckingham Palace announced that Camilla, 77, was withdrawing from engagements after falling unwell from a seasonal bug following her long-haul trip to Australia and Samoa. Doctors advised a "short period of rest" and she was subsequently forced to miss Remembrance events at the weekend to help her make a full recovery.
It follows a year of difficult health troubles for the Royal Family, with both the King and the Princess of Wales being diagnosed with cancer.
What we know
Camilla had not long returned from a busy official overseas tour to Australia and Samoa, when the initial announcement was made on 5 November
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “Her Majesty The Queen is currently unwell with a chest infection, for which her doctors have advised a short period of rest.
“With great regret, Her Majesty has therefore had to withdraw from her engagements for this week but she very much hopes to be recovered in time to attend this weekend’s Remembrance events as normal.
"She apologises to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result.”
On Saturday, the Palace announced the Queen would have to miss Remembrance services to help her recover. There was also concern she might pass on the illness to others, with the King still undergoing treatment for cancer, and Kate recovering from the disease.
Camilla had hoped to join the Royal Family at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening and to honour the war dead at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall.
Instead, she observed the two minutes’ silence privately as she followed the proceedings live on television at Raymill, her Wiltshire house.
The Queen was forced to cancel public engagements in February last year after testing positive for COVID-19, having previously contracted the virus around one year earlier. Buckingham Palace said she'd made an "excellent recovery".
Camilla has had to cancel public engagements in past years due to health issues, including for a chest infection in 2019, and an ear infection and sinusitis in 2012.
Charles's recovery
Camilla's latest health announcement comes as her husband Charles recovers from an undisclosed form of cancer.
The palace announced in February this year that the King had been diagnosed with cancer that had been discovered during treatment for an enlarged prostate at the London Clinic.
Since then, Charles's recovery appears to have been going well, with Buckingham Palace announcing last month that he is planning a full overseas tour next year.
A senior palace official told Sky News: "We're now working on a pretty normal-looking full overseas tour programme for next year. Which is a high for us to end on, to know that we can be thinking in those terms, subject to sign-off by doctors."
The King's cancer treatment was put on hold during a nine-day visit to Australia and Samoa with Camilla in October after doctors decided he was well enough to make the trip.
Charles had also planned to visit New Zealand but ruled it out on advice from his doctors. Charles and Camilla made a brief stop in India on their way back, again as advised by doctors to break up the 33-hour journey to the UK from Samoa and to give the King some more time to rest.
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