As a member of the British royal family, Camilla Parker Bowles gets to travel on lavish private planes on trips around the world — but that doesn’t mean she enjoys flying!
In fact, the 70-year-old Duchess of Cornwall has bowed out of part of her and Prince Charles’ upcoming royal tour of Australia because she’s so afraid of traveling via aircraft.
According to the Daily Mail a Clarence House spokesperson just confirmed that Camilla will fly with Charles, 69, from England to Brisbane, Australia to attend the Commonwealth Games opening on Wednesday, April 4 but will then return home instead of accompanying her husband on the rest of his tour.
Charles will continue visiting Australia by taking short flights to Vanuatu, Cairns, Gove, and Darwin.
“It’s quite a grueling tour, with some fantastic places for the prince to visit. Her last tour there was in 2013,” the royal rep said in a statement. “She is going to the Games, which she regards as a very important part of it.”
When the spokesperson was then reportedly asked if Camilla was cutting her trip short, they replied, “Better than not [going]. 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.”
Camilla will leave her husband’s side part of the way through their tour of Australia to “avoid internal flights.”
Another interesting aspect of Charles and Camilla’s upcoming trip to Australia is that it could fall over Kate Middleton’s due date for baby No. 3. Though we don’t yet know the exact day Kate could give birth, she and Prince William previously revealed they’re set to welcome their third child in April.
It would be a shame for Charles to miss his newest grandchild’s birth, as he’s already so fond of being a grandfather to Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
“It’s a different part of your life. The great thing is to encourage them. Show them things to take their interest. My grandmother did that, she was wonderful. It is very important to create a bond when they are very young,” the royal once said of being a proud grandpa to Kate and William’s little ones.
Last year, Charles sweetly told a royal fan that he also adores reading Harry Potter to George and Charlotte — too cute!
Via Closer Weekly
