Camilla touchingly paid tribute to the Queen’s “wonderful blue eyes and unforgettable smile” in her first official tribute.
The Queen Consort shared her heartfelt memories for a programme to be seen by millions on BBC1 tonight.
She hailed the Queen for her achievements and adulation around the world, despite it being “so difficult” as a “solitary woman” in an age of powerful men.
King Charles’s wife became a trusted confidante to Her Majesty after battling back to mend a public reputation which once saw her labelled a “dark force”.
She had faced unprecedented criticism for her affair with Charles as his marriage to Princess Diana broke down.
Camilla’s salute, recorded within the past three months, features in a tribute being aired immediately before the two minute silence at 8pm.
She tells the programme: “She’s been part of our lives forever. I’m 75 now and I can’t remember anyone except the Queen being there.
“It must have been so difficult for her being a solitary woman.
“There weren’t women Prime Ministers or Presidents. She was the only one so I think she carved her own role.”
In a touching reference to her own personal memories, Camilla said: “She’s got those wonderful blue eyes, that when she smiles they light up her whole face.
“I will always remember her smile. That smile is unforgettable.”
The Queen and Camilla once endured a tense relationship. Her Majesty even refused to discuss her existence with her son during his period of infidelity.
And the monarch was even said to have once privately referred to her future daughter-in-law as that “wicked woman”.
But Camilla won plaudits through her campaigning work for good causes.
A royal source said: “Camilla has gone through an incredible transformation. It’s not been without its dark days.
“She has worked hard and got to a place where she feels comfortable in her own skin and able to show her personality which has been a big journey.”
Her Majesty grew fond of Camilla and announced in February that it was her “sincere wish” that she would become Queen Consort.
Charles and Camilla met at a polo match in Windsor Great Park in 1972.
But a blossoming romance was scuppered when Charles was sent away with the Navy for eight months. Camilla wed Army officer Andrew Parker Bowles and, in 1981, Charles married Diana.
When the royal union faltered the prince rekindled his romance with Camilla – famously referred to by Di as the “third person” in the marriage.
After Diana died in 1997, Camilla faced a backlash and she and Charles were not seen together in public until 1999.
They turned the tide of public opinion and wed in 2005. Since then she has been a constant at Charles’s side and warmly accepted into the family.
