The health of basically all the members of the British royal family has been scrutinized as of late. King Charles is not that young anymore, and he’s still battling cancer. Queen Camilla is around his age. And Kate Middleton just battled cancer last year, so it’s no wonder people are interested in how she’s doing. That’s perhaps why, every time there’s an update about any of them, people are really paying attention.
The latest sad update, however, doesn’t have anything to do with the health of anyone in the British royal family, but someone Queen Camilla was close to. The Queen posted a tribute to her close friend Dame Jilly Cooper, who passed away at 88 during a fall. The two women were close friends, sharing a love for both literature and dogs.
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“I was deeply saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death last night,” Camilla said in a statement. “Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime, but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades.”
The Queen and Dame Jilly Cooper recently saw each other at The Queen’s Reading Room Festival in September. “In person, she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many – and it was a particular pleasure to see her at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival, where she was, as ever, a star of the show,” the statement continued. “I join my husband The King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family. And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”
Ironically, Cooper’s famous hero, Rupert Campbell Black, was reportedly partly based on Queen Camilla’s ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. Whether that ever came up between the two or not, Cooper also reminisced on their friendship, telling MailOnline: “We chatted about how much we love each other. I’ve been very lucky… We’ve known each other a long time. We live near each other.”
This sad news comes after the King recently discussed the perils of aging. During a visit to the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Smethwick, the BBC reported that after a woman remarked to the King that she was “wearing out,” King Charles responded: “That’s the terrible thing I’m discovering. Bits don’t work so well when you get past 70.”
King Charles’ cancer is reportedly not curable, but it is the kind of cancer that can be managed. Writer and associate editor of the Daily Telegraph, Camilla Tominey, recently said. “The talk now is that he may die ‘with’ cancer, but not ‘of’ cancer following a rigorous treatment program.”
But the King’s health is reportedly also getting worse. RadarOnline recently reported about Charles, “He is now shuffling around with a cane – and hitting the bottle, and in particular whisky, to numb the pain and despair he feels,” adding that “his health has deteriorated significantly in recent months.”
Age catches up to us all, even the royals.
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