Laura Parker-Bowles

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Bowood Dog Show

Tape no. 25-07-06/1

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These have been a busy few days for Camilla, her having attended several high profile events in aid of charity. Not that any of the footage from these events made it onto our TV screens. Sadly, the coverage of the Duchess of Cornwall's appearances here at the Bowood dog show, where she and daughter Laura helped raise money for Macmillan Cancer Relief, and at the Sandringham Flower Show on Wednesday, were overlooked by the wider media. The only coverage Camilla has received this week is of the negative kind, relating solely to the costs of installing further security at her pre-marital home of Ray Mill House. The dog show took place at a place Camilla knows well. Bowood House in Wiltshire gained some notoriety when it was mentioned by the-then Mrs Parker Bowles during her sexually explicit telephone conversation with her royal lover which came to the attention of the wider world when it was released in the Australian magazine New Idea in January 1993. Bowood was one of the many safe houses to which Charles and Camilla were openly welcomed during the years their adulterous affair was a national secret to all but their closest friends and, of course, their legal partners: Diana, Princess of Wales and Andrew Parker Bowles respectively. Great friends of Camilla, the occupants of Bowood attended the April 2005 royal wedding, and continue to display loyalty to the new Duchess. It was at the stately pile that Mrs Parker Bowles (as she then was) held her first official function, on this occasion helping to raise much needed funds and exposure for the National Osteoporosis Society. It was therefore no surprise on Saturday when the Lady of the manor heaped praise on Camilla. Having watched the Duchess of Cornwall present a bravery award to a paralysed dog named Heidi, Lady Lansdowne told the gathered media: "I'm touched the Duchess could make time in her incredibly busy schedule to come." This comment was significant, it coming at a time when the subject of Camilla's workload has been an ongoing topic of debate and, in some instances, criticism in the national press. As you can see (and hear) in our exclusive video, Camilla was accompanied by her daughter, Laura Lopes (wearing a pink top and white trousers). Both women were more than happy to mix with all those who'd turned out to support the event and hopefully help raise around £25,000 for the cancer charity. ac This isn't the first time the Duchess has called on her children for support at the dog show, although last year she was also accompanied by her son, Tom Parker Bowles, the whole family entering into the spirit of the occasion by, as you can see in the accompanying image, quite literally taking the lead. Camilla has always been fond of dogs, as you can see throughout the photographs on this page. In this she is like husband Charles who has always enjoyed the company of animals, including a wide variety of dogs. In his new book about life at the court of the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, former royal equerry Colin Burgess recalls the distress of the future King when he lost one of his two Jack Russell dogs, Pooh, in Scotland in 1995. The dog was never found, it having likely become trapped in a rabbit hole on the expansive Birkhall estate. Writing in his memoirs, Behind Palace Doors: My True Adventures As The Queen Mother's Equerry (published by John Blake on August 26th), the former aide shows another side to the gentle Prince of Wales who was clearly distraught on realising his beloved pooch was in trouble and, ultimately, lost forever: "The most upset I ever saw Charles had nothing to do with his marriage, however. It was when he lost his dog, Pooh. We were at Birkhall and Charles had gone walking with Pooh, his jack russell, when the dog just disappeared. He had clearly gone down a rabbit hole and got stuck, but Charles didn’t know where — or how — he had managed to do this, and he was never found." "Charles was absolutely beside himself with grief. He spent all that night with a torch looking for him together with me and as many of the Birkhall staff as he could lay his hands on. It was one of those times where we all thought, oh, we’ll find him eventually. But as five minutes turned to 10, and 10 to 20, there was a dawning realisation that Pooh had gone. "Eventually Charles said to me, eyes red from tears: "Look, you go on back and take the staff with you. I’m going to carry on the search alone". He stayed out there all night, desperately looking for his dog and digging around on his hands trying to find the rabbit hole that he had gone down. But as dawn broke he gave up and came back inside, and for most of the next day you could see him occasionally about to well up. He would suddenly become distant as he thought of his dog trapped in a hole, slowly starving to death." "It was very hard for him to take, and although he and the Queen Mother were close, she didn’t really console him. You have to bear in mind that all her friends and most of her family had died, so a dog didn’t really register with her. I just remember her saying to him when he told her what had happened: "Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Anyway, have some tea"." In one especially fun moment on the video, Camilla and another lady bend down to stroke one of the dogs, at which point the hound snaps, causing the two women to almost jump out of their skins, much to Camilla's amusement. Fortunately, as you can see in the picture on the right, there was no such reaction from the new friends Camilla met at the Sandringham Flower Show on Wednesday. Of apparent amusement to the gathered press corps was the Duchess's meeting with a camel, footage of which you can see at the start of the video package. Sadly for Camilla — who as you can hear and see in the video was nothing but polite and friendly, and at times amusing, with all those she met — she really can do nothing right in the eyes of some members of the press and, indeed, elements of her husband's future subjects. The image you see on the video of Camilla stood beside the camel duly appeared at the back of The Sunday Times, with a less than flattering and, in parts, downright cruel write-up by acerbic columnist Jasper Gerard. Referring to the Duchess as an "old trout", Gerard displayed even less disrespect for the wife of the heir to the throne, noting: "Here is Camilla and friend (that's Camilla on the right). Bravely, she is pictured doing something she is said never to have attempted before: work. In response to criticism that Lord Lucan makes more public appearances than the duchess, she tipped up at the Wiltshire pad of her mate Lady Lansdowne for the Bowood Dog Show and Country Fair. And met a camel. It is not recorded whether she lobbed it the standard royal question of "Have you come far?" but she seems to have made at least one new admirer." Ouch! And we thought it was only camels that spit?! Perhaps if the wider world saw more of the chatty and at times warm and amusing Camilla at work (as can be seen throughout this video), the preconceptions would, in part, begin to dissipate, and Camilla — like Diana before her — would also be judged on her merits too, as opposed to solely on the at times distorted coverage we see of all the royals in our daily newspapers and magazines.

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Lara Parker-Bowles wedding

Tape no. 06-06-06/1-2

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Charles Camilla William Harry + KATE at Laura Parker-Bowles Wedding.

Rehearsal for Laura parker-Bowles wedding

Tape no. 05-06-06/1

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Camilla at the rehearsal for Laura Parker-Bowles Wedding.