Nearly ten years ago, Claire Jones’s career was reaching dizzying heights.
As the official harpist for the Prince of Wales, the talented classical musician spent her time jet-setting around the globe, performing to adoring crowds.
And in 2011, Jones, now 33 and living in London, was written into the history books when she played at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding reception at Buckingham Palace, in front of the royal family.
However, her stellar career was left in tatters after she developed debilitating flu-like symptoms and was so exhausted she would spend days in bed after a particularly intensive performance.
Claire was eventually diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFC), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), a condition that affects around 250,000 people in the UK.
Claire Jones, now 33, pictured in the official Clarence House photograph marking her performance at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011
In the grips of ME in 2013, Claire was forced to cancel her touring commitments and retreat to her parents house in Wales where she was largely bed-bound and unable to even wash herself
The talented musician was personally thanked by William and Kate after her performance at their nuptials and had committed to a string of concerts in the months to follow.
The wedding was a defining moment in Claire’s career – recognition that she had worked for from the age of 13.
She explains: ‘I was so set in my mind from the age of 13 that playing the harp what I wanted to do and I would dedicate everything to make it. I was like an athlete determined to be an Olympian.’
Her appointment as Prince Charles’ Royal Harpist still had a year to run when the symptoms began to take over her life.
Claire says: ‘It was a fatigue that just floored me – not like simply being tired. The situation continued for a couple of years, where I kept pushing through before being forced to take a couple of weeks off to recover.’
A treadmill of performing, releasing albums and touring ensured Claire was at the top of her game…but her health was on a downward spiral.
After a lengthy tour of America, Claire’s symptoms began to worsen. She says: ‘I couldn’t climb the stairs because I was in so much pain.
‘I contacted the doctors but there was only so much they could do to help me by giving me pain killers and suggesting time off.’
‘I had pain in all sorts of places. Nothing could get rid of it; no painkillers would touch it.’
Claire Jones, who lives in London, was employed by Prince Charles as the Royal Harpist while in her mid twenties and enjoyed a glittering career (Pictured with Prince William in 2008)
Claire Jones in a more recent photo after returning to health, pictured with her husband, composer and percussionist Chris Marshall, and their baby daughter Cadi Haf Marshall-Jones
Claire was invited to perform at the Duke and Duchess’ wedding back in 2011
After Claire’s condition suddenly deteriorated in 2013, her husband, the musician Chris Marshall, rang NHS Direct who told her to attend A&E where an assortment of blood tests were taken.
Claire then collapsed and had a seizure in a hospital corridor. She said: ‘I looked like a fairly normal person and I didn’t have any broken bones or severe injuries, which is what you sort of expect in A&E.
Looking back, I was running at 110mph and I think my body couldn’t keep up. It was telling me to slow down…
Claire Jones on being diagnosed with ME/CFS
She was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, CFS or ME, which leaves around 25 per cent of people who have it house or bed bound.
The condition manifests as unrelenting fatigue and profound pain and there is no known cure.
Sufferers are often confined to their beds, unable to walk, and need help even to shower – an action that could then lay them low for hours, or even days.
There remains many misconceptions that ME is ‘made up’, ‘in the mind’ or even ‘laziness’.
Claire says her diagnosis left her shell-shocked: ‘Two years earlier I had played at the Royal Wedding, and had lots of big, exciting projects in the pipeline. I was so excited about the future, but suddenly so scared.
‘I honestly thought I’d never be able to play the harp again. It took so much energy to go on stage and perform because really I’m quite an insular person. I had nothing left.’
However, in 2009 Claire’s symptoms began to appear; she would be left exhausted and bed-bound for days after a performance
With one year left to run on her position as official Royal Harpist, Claire began to experience debilitating symptoms, often struggling to leave the house
The harpist retreated to her parents’ house in Crymych, Pembrokeshire and cancelled all of her forthcoming commitments.
She explains how the illness took hold: ‘My mum had to bathe me because I didn’t have the energy to do it myself. I was unable to do anything.’
There is no one single cure for ME and what helps subside symptoms for one person may not work for another.
For Claire, treatment from the Optimum Health Clinic, regular chiropractic sessions in Cardiff and the help of a specialist doctor in Dorset appeared to help, along with regular supplements and yoga.
After three months of effectively being house-bound, Claire began to notice improvements and after 18 months ‘felt like a new person’, though she is wary not to push herself as hard as in the past.
“There are times when I get a couple of red lights. But I’ve learned to spot them and slow down a little. But at no point have I felt unable to get out of bed. I’m living a very normal life and probably doing a lot more than many other people.’
In April 2011, Claire performed for William and Kate – and the rest of the royal family – at their wedding reception, and was personally thanked by the prince
By 2013, Claire was ravaged by her illness and a seizure in A&E saw her finally diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Last year, Claire gave birth to Cadi, now 11 months, after fearing her health woes meant she might never have a child of her own.
She says: ‘There were days when Ithought I’d never be a mum. I had suppressed the idea from my mind, there was just no way I would be able to have chronic fatigue and raise a child. I wasn’t going to have children and that was the way it had to be.’
An album in 2015, Journey, was inspired by her fight with ME and topped the classical charts.
This year, she is set to tour Europe and America before performing at summer festivals in the UK.
She is also hugely keen to raise awareness of ME in the UK – where there still remains a barrier to acceptance among some medics and the general public.
‘It is a real illness,’ Claire affirms. ‘For someone like me, who could never stay still, who ran on ambition and drive, to be struck down by it proves that to me.
‘There is a stigma attached to the illness where people claim that it is all in the mind – it has been proved that it is a physical illness and it has affected so many people.
The harpist cancelled all concerts and retreated to her parents home in Wales where she remained bed-bound for several months before her slow recovery began
While some people with ME do improve over the course of time, it is only a small minority that return to full normal health.
ME specialist Dr Charles Shepherd, said: ‘Like many people with ME/CFS, Claire experienced a long and unacceptable delay in obtaining a diagnosis, along with no clear management advice during the very crucial early stages of her illness.
‘Clare has learned to pace her activities, found a helpful doctor, and become an ‘expert patient’ when it comes to the management of her ME/CFS – all of which appear to be contributing towards her improvement.’
Claire, who lives in London, said: ‘Looking back, I was running at 110mph and I think my body couldn’t keep up. It was telling me to slow down, but I got on Cloud Nine and stayed on Cloud Nine.
‘I would be up there and the truth is that no-one could sustain that level of stress and adrenaline all the time.’