The Duchess of Cornwall continued her Down Under charm offensive this morning, delighting a room of dignitaries and osteoporosis sufferers with her easy manner and impish sense of humour.
Camilla met with a select group of dignitaries, medical practitioners and patients at a special event for Osteoporosis Australia at Government House in Melbourne.
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Elegant in a blue pleated silk skirt and cream jacket by designer Anna Valentine, the Duchess made everyone she encountered feel at ease, even eschewing stuffy royal protocol to crack jokes at her own expense.
Upon being introduced to sisters Eleanor and Martha Baillieu, the two very tall daughters of Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu, the Duchess joked she should have brought her racing binoculars from the Melbourne Cup in order to make eye contact.
“She was utterly charming,” pronounced Primrose Dunlop, the Countess Krasicki V Siecin, after meeting the Duchess.
“Very down to earth. No airs or graces. And she’s into horses. And anyone who likes horses is alright by me.”
For Lady Potter, another guest at the function, the Duchess was “elegant and warm.”
“She was charming and warm, she couldn’t have been nicer,” Lady Potter said. “She and Prince Charles are obviously very happy together, it’s lovely to see.”
The Duchess had specifically requested a function for Osteoporosis Australia be built into the royal tour, having been personally touched by the disease.
“It is a cause that is very, very close to my heart,” she told the assembled guests. “I watched my mother die in agony of this disease.”
She told the room it was disease that was “utterly preventable”.
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The chairman of Osteoporosis Australia the former Opposition Leader, Dr John Hewson said more than 1.2 million Australians were afflicted with osteoporosis and a further 5.4 million had low bone density.
Guests at the function included Osteoporosis CEO Shelley Evans, former Victorian Premier Joan Kirner, Osteoporosis Australia patron and broadcaster Helen Daley and Premier Ted Baillieu.
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