The Duchess of Cornwall has said she is “very honoured and very touched” to have been endorsed by the Queen as a future Queen Consort.
Camilla was visiting Nourish Hub, a community kitchen based in Notting Hill, west London, to mark its opening and as patron of the charity that runs it, UK Harvest, when she was asked by a guest how she felt about the title.
The Duchess of Cornwall meeting DJ, 49, during her visit to the UKHarvest charity's West London 'Nourish Hub' . The community kitchen is designed to combat social isolation and loneliness.Picture date: Thursday February 10, 2022.
Geoff Pugh/Daily Telegraph
Her comments came on the day the Prince of Wales tested positive for coronavirus, but Clarence House has confirmed the duchess returned a negative result on Thursday morning.
UK Harvest is a non-profit organisation which collects surplus food from supermarkets and delivers it directly to charities, as well as serving at pop-up hubs and at the kitchen.
Camilla, 74, spoke with volunteers and refugees at the West London Welcome charity, who were cooking a rice-based Iranian dish called loobia polo for visitors.
A guest who gave his name as DJ, 49, asked the duchess how she felt about her new title.
Camilla told him: “I feel very honoured, very honoured and very touched.”
DJ, who uses a wheelchair, told the PA news agency he had been feeling suicidal shortly before the hub opened because he was struggling with food poverty.
He said: “Two years ago, I was desperate, in need and in trouble.
“I was asking for things from the Government, and nothing was happening, and then you get a person like me who wants to jump out of a 30-foot balcony, because nobody is helping, and suddenly get all this help.
“This place, it cares.”
The duchess spoke with every guest and volunteer at the venue, and added a touch of saffron to the dish.
In an impromptu speech before she left, Camilla said: “Before I go, I would like to congratulate everybody who is part of this, I think you’ve done a brilliant job.
“The minute you walk in here, you get this lovely, uplifting and cheerful feeling.
“What you’re doing – bringing people together and getting people talking over food… many congratulations to you all and thank you very much for having me here.”
The Duchess of Cornwall meeting DJ, 49, during her visit to the UKHarvest charity's West London 'Nourish Hub' . The community kitchen is designed to combat social isolation and loneliness.Picture date: Thursday February 10, 2022.
Geoff Pugh/Daily Telegraph
Gianni, 59, a local resident who was visiting the kitchen, presented the duchess with a bouquet of flowers, to which she replied: “Grazie.”
He told PA: “She made me feel so comfortable, she made me feel so happy because she was paying attention to everybody and she was trying to get in touch with everybody – really, it’s been a magic moment.”
The kitchen is part-funded by a £2.6 million donation from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF), and leader Stephen Cowan, 57, thanked the duchess for marking its official opening.
The visit was among Camilla’s first public royal duties since being endorsed by the Queen as a future Queen Consort.
The duchess toured Voices in Bath, a charity which supports domestic abuse survivors, on Tuesday.
Before her visit to the food kitchen on Thursday, Camilla also spoke with staff at Paddington Haven, a sexual assault referral centre in west London, and she will be appearing at Thames Valley Partnership in Aylesbury, another charity for domestic abuse survivors, in the afternoon.