The Duchess of Cornwall has refused to undertake a tour of Australia with her husband because it is too ‘gruelling’, aides admitted yesterday.
But Clarence House has denied the decision is a snub to the Queen’s subjects in Australia because she will still fly out to the country’s Gold Coast to open April’s Commonwealth Games at Prince Charles’s side as part of a major charm offensive.
Indeed Camilla, who turned 70 last year, will travel more than 20,000 miles for just two-and-a-half days of official engagements before returning to London.
The Duchess of Cornwall will not be flying out to Australia with her husband because it is ‘too gruelling’, according to aides
Charles will continue the tour alone for a further four days. He will travel on to the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, before returning to Australia – where his mother is head of state – to visit Cairns, Gove and Darwin, and making his own way back to the UK.
The couple’s visit comes at a sensitive time, just days before the high-profile Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London, attended by the Queen.
Buckingham Palace has in recent years been canvassing hard for Charles to inherit his mother’s title as head of the Commonwealth.
As London may be the last time the elderly monarch will attend the biannual gathering of its 52 members, it is anticipated the meeting will be used as an opportunity to ratify the prince as her successor.
Which is why courtiers believe that it is vital for Charles and Camilla, as his consort, to put on a united front Down Under.
A spokeswoman for the duchess admitted yesterday that she had only recently decided to attend the Games after weeks of speculation in Australia, but insisted that she should be applauded for going despite her well-known fear of flying.
However, the Camilla will fly out to be at Prince Charles’ side when he goes to open April’s Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast
She said: ‘The Duchess has always wanted to go to the Commonwealth Games but she was taking a little longer to decide what the rest of the programme was going to be and what the rest of her programme this year was going to be.
‘We have got CHOGM, the Prince of Wales’s birthday, their spring tour… so she is going to return after the Commonwealth Games as that would be the natural point to return home.’
Asked whether this could be seen as a snub to Australia, the spokesman said: ‘No. It’s quite a gruelling tour, with some fantastic places for the prince to visit. Her last tour there was in 2013.
‘She is going to the Games, which she regards as a very important part of it.’
Asked whether she should only go for two days, the spokeswoman added: ‘Better than not. She decided a few weeks ago to firm up her plans. We were always looking at the Duchess coming.
‘There are no health reasons [for her pulling out after two days]. She is as fit as a flea. The Duchess does not like flying but I think she sometimes has to embrace that fear and get on with it.’
The couple’s trip will be paid for by the Australia Government.
Charles and Camilla will travel out on commercial flights to Singapore, where they will be picked by up an Australian Royal Air Force plane.
Camilla will then travel back to London from Australia on another commercial flight.
Charles’s visit to Vanuatu, a remote Pacific archipelago, will be welcomed by the villagers on the island of Tanna, who believe Prince Philip is descended from one of their spirit ancestors.
The cult which has grown around the Duke of Edinburgh – called the Prince Philip Movement – is believed to date from 1974, when he and the Queen visited Vanuatu on the Royal yacht Britannia.
Some villagers on Tanna have decorated a shrine with framed portraits of Prince Philip draped with the Union Flag.