Duchess Camilla
That was how bad it was for my mother with osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a big issue in Duchess Camilla’s family.
© Alessia Pierdomenico / Shutterstock.com
Duchess Camilla’s mother suffered from osteoporosis until her death. Now the Duchess reveals how bad things were for her.
Duchess Camilla (74) has in a BBC interview Openly talked about her mother Rosalind Shand (1921-1994) suffering from osteoporosis. The wife of Prince Charles (72) has been the president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society charity since 2001, raising awareness of the disease. The 74-year-old recalls that her mother’s osteoporosis was “terrible” for Camilla’s family.
Accordingly, Rosalind Shand literally screamed “if she moved or you just touched her”. “One day when a friend of hers came over and hugged her, her rib broke. It was that bad.” At that time, however, the disease was often dismissed. “My mother went to all kinds of people and they all said the same thing, ‘Sorry, you’re old,'” says Camilla.
Duchess Camilla draws attention to prevention
It is important to prevent the disease, the Duchess explains. One should do a lot of sport and walk some distances. Young people need to be educated about the disease, she demands. That’s why she shows her grandchildren pictures of her mother – before and after the osteoporosis diagnosis. “Look, this can happen to you if you don’t take care of yourself,” she tells them.
Rosalind Shand died of osteoporosis in 1994 at the age of 72. Duchess Camilla’s grandmother had already suffered from the disease, she died in 1986. With osteoporosis, also known as bone loss, the bone mass decreases and the risk of fractures increases.