Queen Camilla Was Forced to Cancel Several Engagements Due to Health Issues

Queen Camilla is no stranger to health issues, especially within her own family. In 1994 she lost her mother to osteoporosis, a debilitating disease that weakens one's bones. Often called the silent killer, it caused the Queen's mother to "lose eight inches in height and became so bent she was unable to digest her food properly, leaving her with no appetite at all," Camilla wrote in 2011 (via Today.com). She came to believe that her mother literally lost her will to live.

Watching her mother suffer stayed with Camilla, so much so that she became president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society, a U.K. charity raising awareness about the condition. While Queen Camilla hasn't shown any signs that she also has osteoporosis, she has suffered a few medical setbacks of her own. One came in November 2024 and caused the Queen to cancel several appearances. Here's what we know about her health.

In a statement released to the BBC, Buckingham Palace revealed that Queen Camilla was suffering from a chest infection. She has been put on bed rest for a short period of time but was hoping to feel well enough to celebrate Remembrance Day, which is the second Sunday of each November.

The Duchess of Gloucester has been tasked with taking over for Queen Camilla, for the annual opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey. No one is overly concerned about the infection, which was likely picked up while traveling to Australia, Samoa, and India the previous week.

In February 2023, Queen Camilla was struck with COVID and was forced to miss of week of engagements. She previously had COVID exactly one year prior. Regarding the latest health issue, a spokesperson for the palace said the Queen "apologizes to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result."

When she isn't feeling a bit under the weather, Queen Camilla works hard to take care of herself. Her personal trainer, Sarah Campus, previously told Express.co.uk that, "The Queen Consort leads a very healthy lifestyle with her husband King Charles." She went on to say, "Camilla particularly enjoys eating hearty meals using fresh produce, a lot actually which is produced on their estate."

Evidently Queen Camilla follows a balanced diet and doesn't subscribe to any sort of fad. Back in 2019 she told the Daily Mail that cutting things out like dairy is "depriving your bones of calcium." She referenced rationing during World War II and questioned why the youth of today chooses to live like that. This of course contributes to osteoporosis which is a cause near and dear to Queen Camilla's heart.

"You have got to find a way of getting to them and making them exercise," she said. "There must be some way to tell them, maybe through a video game or something, to tell them how to look after their bones." She revealed that her own children still remembered what happened to their grandmother, and were devastated by it. Queen Camilla is trying to spare others from a similar fate.