Queen Camilla Is Greeted With Get Well Soon Cards for King Charles and Kate Middleton

During a Monday series of engagements in Swindon, Queen Camilla was greeted by well-wishers with Get Well Soon cards for her husband, King Charles III and Kate Middleton, and told one woman in the crowd that her husband was “fine” in advance of a procedure for a benign prostate condition planned for Tuesday. 

With the Princess of Wales recovering from abdominal surgery in London, Prince William taking time off to support his wife and children, and Charles’s upcoming procedure and recuperation, Camilla’s visits will be an increasingly important part of the Court Circular. The queen keeps a country home, Ray Mill House, in Wiltshire, and on Monday she visited a nearby domestic violence shelter and the headquarters of a watchmaker.

The queen, who has become a vocal advocate for survivors of domestic violence, began the day by opening a new shelter for the Swindon Domestic Abuse Support Service. The refuge is named “Jenni’s House” in honor of Jenni Manners, the service’s founder. According to the BBC, Manners’s own experience of domestic violence led her to found the organization in 1974. She died in 2012 at the age of 60. 

Camilla said a few words about the charity as she unveiled a plaque dedicating the building. “’It’s not just looking after the victims or the children. It’s getting into schools, teaching young people, teaching them respect and working with perpetrators too,” she said. “As you say, who knows—in 50 years we might be able to prevent this horrific abuse and suffering.

Next, she traveled to Deacon & Son, a Swindon watchmaker which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. During the visit she looked at vintage timepieces with managing director Richard Deacon, visited the company’s workshop, and even tried on a Rolex Oyster Perpetual wrist watch. She also used the trip to get an errand done. One of the senior watchmakers at Deacon held up a vintage Breitling watch that the queen brought in for repairs.

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