How Did Queen Camilla Get Over Her Alleged Smoking Habit? Deets Here

Queen Camilla is one of the few royal members who has been known for their smoking habits. The royalty reportedly emptied packets of cigarettes every day for most of her early life before quitting.

Published on Jul 25, 2024  |  04:45 PM IST |  100.2K
Find Out How Queen Camilla Gave Up Her Alleged Smoking Habit For Good
King Charles III and Camilla (PC- Getty Images)

Queen Camilla is one of the few members of the royal family known for her smoking habits. For most of her early adult life, she reportedly smoked a packet of cigarettes every day before quitting permanently in 2001.

In recent years, the Queen Consort has focused on maintaining good health, attending ballet classes, and practicing yoga. Transitioning from smoking ten cigarettes a day to quitting entirely was a significant journey that required her full commitment and awareness.

How did Queen Camilla quit smoking?

Initially a regular smoker, Queen Camilla, 77, had struggled to quit smoking for years. Her efforts were compounded by her rhinitis, an allergy aggravated by smoking. According to The Daily Mail, it was this combination of health issues that finally compelled her to give up the habit.

“She had a persistent cough which she couldn't shake off. It wasn't connected to her smoking but she decided it was a good opportunity,” a friend close to Queen Camilla, formerly Camilla Parker Bowles, told The Daily Mail at the time in 2015. 

The friend claimed that Queen Camilla had been struggling to give up the habit since the time they’d known her, eventually reducing it to “three a day” and only after 6 p.m.

Later on, the senior royalty took a huge step toward recovery by embarking on a retreat to The Himalayas to meet up with health guru Dr. Mosaraf Ali, as suggested by King Charles, and “re-energise” her spirits.

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Thus, practicing yoga and a sense of spirituality encouraged Queen Camilla to quit smoking forever and also relieve intense back pain, as per the source. “It wasn't so much me giving up smoking, rather smoking giving up on me,” Queen Camilla once noted. 

According to reports, Queen Camilla was allegedly a chain smoker for 30 years of her life but was bound to quit owing to the rhinitis health scare and constant persuasion from her husband, King Charles. The former Duchess of Cornwall’s quitting journey was also briefly mentioned in the FAQ section of the monarch’s official website. 

Queen Camilla had strict demands during her smoking days

Queen Camilla might have come a long way from her alleged smoking days in her earlier years, but the extravagant demands she once made to her royal staff continue to raise eyebrows. Author Brian Hoey mentioned in his book, Not In Front Of The Corgis, how the senior royal enjoyed her smokes with strict instructions given to her staff, Express.co.uk reported in 2018. 

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The staff reportedly had to make sure the matchbox holders were placed in solid silver containers and “placed upright near at hand with one match withdrawn” in case she was looking for a light anywhere in her house. 

Not only that, the staff were tasked with even cleaning up her ashtrays as soon as she left the room and keeping them “ready for her return.” As per the report, her cigarette bills soared up to 100 pounds a week, one expense her husband despised as "that filthy habit."

Meanwhile, she was only allowed to smoke on the terrace at their Highgrove residence and had a strict no-smoking policy at her current residence, Buckingham Palace. So, it’s good she quit the habit before becoming queen. 

ALSO READ: What Really Happened In The Infamous Tampongate Call Between King Charles And Queen Camilla

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