For years following his pseudo-banishment from public life, Prince Andrew was allowed to “keep” one of his favorite honorary military titles, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. The Grenadier Guards were NOT happy about it and they kept asking for Andrew to be replaced. They even openly suggested that Kate, then the Duchess of Cambridge, take over the position. Then in December, King Charles announced a bunch of honorary military appointments all at once: Kate was given the Irish Guards, William became Colonel of the Welsh Guards and Queen Camilla was given the Grenadier Guards position. What Camilla wants, Camilla gets. This week was her first visit to the barracks.
On Tuesday, the Queen Consort traveled to see the Grenadier Guards, 1st Battalion, at the Lille Barracks in Aldershot, England. The visit was Queen Camilla’s first since becoming Colonel of the celebrated regiment in December 2022, a role that previously belonged to her brother-in-law Prince Andrew.
Camilla, 75, was radiant in red as she met with members of the battalion and their families. The royal voiced her gratitude when commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Johnson raised a champagne toast in honor of her first visit, PA reported via The Independent.
“Thank you very much, it has been a pleasure to be here. I look forward to seeing a lot more of you in the future,” Queen Camilla said. She also presented medals, awarding distinctions to 10 soldiers for outstanding service in Iraq last year and two servicemen for length of service, per PA. Lt. Col. Johnson, who sat next to Camilla during a group photo, said it meant much that she visited the regiment just a few weeks after becoming the ceremonial Colonel.
“She was wonderful, and it was a very special moment for us to introduce our new colonel,” he told the outlet. “We found out in early January, and we’re excited that she wanted to come and see us so quickly.”
Some say Camilla wore red, some say a pinkish berry. I think it’s supposed to be a berry-ish red, especially given that the Guards’ dress uniform is that distinctive shade of red. She was trying to mimic the color of their dress uniform – I don’t know if she realized that they would all be in fatigues. As for this appearance… well, she’s better than Andrew, I guess, although that’s setting the bar very low. Whenever Camilla does these kinds of events now, I think about how she’s still competing with Diana in her mind. Like, Diana loved events where she got to flirt with soldiers. Diana was great around military men. Camilla is trying to be flirtatious and it’s falling flat a little bit.
PS… I’m pretty sure I’ve seen at least two of these dudes on Masterpiece Theater! And of course they put the soldier with bright red hair in the far back.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
She finally got a semi decent bra.
She looks the same to me.
She definitely has more of a lift and shape.
Is that a good bra or was that part of her “health spa” trip to India?
This must really get under Andrew’s skin. He was horrible & dismissive to Camilla for years and now she’s taken over his favourite honorary military title, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. I bet she’s really enjoying the double whammy of a nice new title and the fact that it’s another knuckle deep revenge dig at Andy. Not that I feel sorry for him. He deserves all the bad that can possibly be thrown his way.
I wonder if his much hated SiL actually asked KC for this post or if it’s just a long awaited KC payback move toward the brother who once tried to stage a bit of a coup against him when he was going through his divorce with Diana.
JOJO, l think l remember Andrew petitioning the queen for custody/control over William and Harry at the time of the divorce. Maybe a power grab for becoming regent if things went south with Charles being heir? I remember Charles was infuriated over that which is probably one of the many reasons he hates Andrew so much.
JoJo, Andrew is the worst but I still wish Camilla had not been given the title. Camilla is no saint herself but of course Andrew is the worst. If Camilla thinks of it as revenge, it is a shame she was even selected.
And a glamour shots makeover. Her makeup and hair are slightly different. A little more glopped on.
She’s probably wearing a longline bra. Something that gives her a waist. I can see the outline. She still has ugly ways, though.
That top photo is gorgeous. The red dress against the sea of fatigues.
The red dress on her is a bit much.
I think she chose the red because the color would pop compared to the fatigues. Its all about people noticing her.
Now that Meghan said she was wearing colors that wouldn’t stand out, Kate and Camilla’s wardrobe got a lot of showy red outfits.
QE2 wore eye popping color, so I guess Camzilla is going to do it, too.
Some of them look less than thrilled with their new “Colonel”.
I suppose if the options are Andy or Camilla then Camilla is the lesser of two evils. That last group picture does seem to have a lot of them stifling laughter though. Laughing with her or at her I wonder.
Harry or Meghan would have been the best choices. Sophie should have been selected although I am not a fan of hers.
Photoshopped to oblivion
Are all the members white and male or is that just who made the picture? Curious.
Right?! Not sure about the UK but in the US, the military is extremely diverse so this collection of soldiers surrounding Jeremy Clarkson’s ciggie BFF seems like a deliberate choice.
Sussex watcher, they were hand picked, must have been because they our military is multi cultural, mind you they put the red head at the back
That was my first thought, how very “white and male” this photo looks.
I like the picture where she is stood with a drink in her hand, if you look over her shoulder it looks like one of them is thinking., offs just go dragon lady 😂
Like Kate calling attention to herself in bright red
Something something Camilla but….can we just focus on the important issue for the moment?
That is a collection of fiiiiine looking men. Rowr!
Riiiight? My thoughts exactly 🙂
And thank you, Kaiser, for pointing out the especially fine looking ginger whose hottness is not even a little bit obscured in the back row.
Noki 🤣🤣🤣 but you aint wrong I’ve thought this for a while like cone on the very least you can have good undergarments.
That’s Colonel Grimacing Side Piece – Attention!
I cannot image how this body of military personnel must feel having someone like that toe curling woman representing them, Just seeing this picture of her with these military men is nauseating. An old broken down adulterer sitting front and center among these young men who put their life on the line for their country is whew…….
Especially (for the soldiers) seeing how she and the rest of the family have treated one of their own – Harry. She’s such a vile piece of sh!t.
I’m glad to see not all of them put on a happy face (the guy in the second to last pic where she’s smiling at him and he’s got a grimace and looking away).
I don’t like Camilla either but let’s not act there isn’t a LOT of infidelity in the armed services…
Obligatory photo-op for the royal patron. Yippee!
I’m always wondering what being “wonderful” means to monarchists. Is it as simple as smiling and nodding or is it truly a great display of charisma?
It means she has managed to stay sober for the visit and no one has put out a foot to trip her up. On a positive note, that “spa”, must do a good line in bras 😂
I think that “spa” is for drying out very very wet alcoholics. She’ll be back.
Again an unqualified person is appointed to an honorary military position just because she is the spouse of a royal.
Why does the military needs a royal patron?
Noir, Good question!
Does this mean that Camilla gets to wear a uniform with all the (fake) medals like Anne?
Please let her wear it, I’d love to see it. The obscenity of it all.
Why does the armed forces need these people with their honorary titles? Just another photo op to prop up the monarchy?
“Queen Camilla” ?? I just cant.
I know. I feel the same way.
This is why I most definitely will not be watching the farcical con-a-nation. To see this manipulative, cruel, cheating harridan crowned as queen is beyond galling. I’m sad that there are so many things going on in the UK at the moment that just make me utterly ashamed and embarrassed knowing what it must look like to the rest of the world.
Have no worries about us judging you; we had our own obscenity named Trump. Chuckie can lavish honors on Cam until doomsday, that’s lipstick on a pig. Obviously, they are now keeping a whole photoshop division busy these days.
Seconding what Giddy said. The propaganda that both nations are subject to comes thick and fast and captures the minds of some. It’s Fox news here, all the tabloids but esp the Sun and DM in Britain– Harry is absolutely correct when he says that Rupert Murdoch has a lot to answer for.
Lipstick on a pig! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Love it.
I’m just really pleased that the long con of Camilla’s rehabilitation PR has fallen at the last hurdle thanks to Harry’s truthfulness and Jeremy Clarkson’s total inability to recognise the boundaries of common decency.
As a UK boomer I’ve been right here throughout the whole sorry story. From watching the cringeworthy, ‘Whatever love is’ engagement comment to having to listen & watch years of fawning, patronising media spin about ‘Cowmillla the converted’.
However, she’s still getting to sit on the fancy chair, wear the fancy hat and usurp the top title though. Which just makes me 🤬.
Well, at least she’s not wearing something uniform-adjacent with a lot of shiny buttons.
I will burst out laughing if they wheel Camilla out one day wearing full military dress uniform like Anne.
Oops! Sorry RoyalBlue. Didn’t see your comment until after I posted similar above.
our souls were connected. Even the same reference to Anne! lol. weird thing is this happens to me all the time, where i post, without reading a long thread, and then scroll to see others said the exact same.
Royal Blue, that’s because so many of us agree with you. She’s awful, and I know Anne never served, but when I see her in uniform, I think, if she was the same person but male, she’d have served with distinction and been mentioned in despatches. I don’t feel like Anne is perpetuating a cosplay. She looks and acts like she belongs in the uniform. And I’m sure her regiments adore her. She’s willing to dig in and do whatever work is necessary, without making it a huge photo op.
TL;dr Anne deserves it Camilla does not.
At least they didn’t drag in a black soldier and make him stand next to her for the obligatory “diverse photo opp”…or maybe this platoon just doesn’t have any black soldier?
Yeah, I can’t decide if its worse to have this overwhelmingly white photo op, or if they had brought in a POC to use as a prop to show how not very racist the royals are.
Wish the ginger one had been sat beside her though 😂
I mean if there were non-white soldiers there they should’ve been in the photo too. But it’s the way they always put them up front or right next to them that makes me uncomfortable. Turning humans into props or decorations.
As someone who’s been used as a prop, I prefer seeing the reality of the overwhelmingly white photo. First, for those of us who are even vaguely aware of being used, it sucks in the moment. To get pushed forward for your skin tone, then to be pushed back again after the photo op — often for that same skin tone — can feel demoralizing. The photo op also isn’t all that engaging for POC who recognize it for what it is — as we qwhite understand that we’re not really the target audience anyway.
That’s a great question, and an interesting conundrum.
There are a lot of things that could be said about Camilla, but I don’t think competing with Diana is one of them. I think she would have been fine living out her life as a wealthy aristo doing anyone and anything in relative peace and quiet.
Having said that, why doesn’t this particular military group get a dog? Because I’m here for the doggos on these threads.
I don’t know how this Palace propaganda is still being pushed after what Harry said in his book. If Camilla had no interest in being Queen she would not have married Charles as Harry and William had asked.
I disagree, Camilla loves attention and like Kate, looks to the cameras. She would not have undermined Diana if she had not wanted this. Harry depicted Camilla as someone with Ambitions. She was not content to be the mistress behind the scenes. And as fate would have it, Charles decided it was a good thing to “out Camilla” as the mistress. I don’t buy into the Camilla never wanted anything spin. Kate and Camilla are two of a kind IMO> Though Kate pretending to be an expert on something she knows nothing about is super nervy.
Nope. Harry’s book and her actions regarding Clarkson disprove your first paragraph, as well as all the constant leaking and tabloids she called WHILE Diana was still married. She was as active as Charles in trying to use the media against Diana.
Looks like my post going ballistic on Camilla didn’t get approved. lol, I did not hold back. But the gist of it is that heaux competed and desired to be Diana.
Yeah, Camilla’s sad version of Diana’s revenge dress begs to differ @same.
What DO the everyday Brits on the street think of her? I mean surely she is not a beloved member of the royal family…. If that was my military group I would feel insulted that we got stuck with her.
Well this ‘everyday Brit’ is disgusted that she gets to be crowned and to be called queen. There was a definite public promise that this would never happen. He was determined to get his own way on this from day one.
Given that Andrew and Camilla allegedly don’t get on Charles knew what he was doing when he gave the Grenadiers to Camilla.
@Amybee I’m no Camilla fan but I’m loving that she was given this and Andrew is out in the cold. I’m elderly enough to remember everything that went on when Diana & Charles married.
Charles and Camilla are no saints themselves. I wish Charles knew what he was doing instead of ousting Harry and Meghan and being afraid of William. Shameful. Though ANdrew is the worst.
The one in the middle, in the olive green uniform, looks ready for his close up in WW2 drama.
Blech. She’s still trash.
Sketchy, with Camilla, I ignore the red and look at the men in fatigues, some very good-looking and all more important than that snake in a red dress.