Duchess Camilla
She has never spoken so openly about her mother’s osteoporosis
Duchess Camilla
© Dana Press
For years, Duchess Camilla has been the president of the National Osteoporosis Society in England to raise awareness of the disease. Her mother suffered from osteoporosis herself – how bad it was for Rosalind Shand, Camilla now reveals in an interview.
27 years ago, Duchess Camilla, 74, lost her mother Rosalind Shand to osteoporosis. Her grandmother also succumbed to the painful illness in which the density of the bones continues to decrease. How terrifying it was for the wife of Prince Charles, 72, to experience the suffering of her mother first hand, she has now explained in an interview with “BBC”.
Duchess Camilla: “We just watched her shrink before our eyes”
The video of the intimate conversation between the Duchess of Cornwall and presenter Gloria Hunniford was shared on Clarence House’s official Instagram page. Camilla first explains how frustrating the course of the illness was not only for her mother but also for the whole family. “My mother went to all kinds of people, I think [Ärzt:innen, Anm. d. Red.] and everyone said the same thing: ‘I’m sorry, you are old’ “, said Duchess Camilla and continues:”[…] we just watched it shrink before our eyes. ”
The fact that none of the family could do anything with the disease was particularly terrible and that doctors apparently also belittled Shand’s suffering. “[I]At some point we thought: “Well, is she just making a fuss about it?” But the pain got worse and worse. Even the smallest touch would have been enough to cause broken bones.
Rosalind Shand died in 1994 at the age of 72
“Occasionally, when she moved or you touched her, she literally screamed. I remember one day when a friend of hers came in to hug her and she broke a rib,” said Charles’ wife, describing the memory of her mother .
Rosalind Shand passed away on July 14th, 1994. Just 8 years earlier, Camilla’s grandmother had died due to increasing bone loss. Since then, it has been a matter close to the heart of the Royal to provide information about the facts and effects of osteoporosis and to draw attention to it through its media presence.
Sources used: instagram.com