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.
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.”
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 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.
