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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Queen Camilla reveals 'difficult' surprising past job as she enjoys day out at Wimbledon

Her current job is to carry out vital royal duties alongside supporting her husband King Charles - but it seems Queen Camilla once did some very surprising work.

The 75-year-old opened up about her past life while on a visit to Wimbledon today, where she has taken to Centre Court's royal box for two quarter-final matches. Before the action was served up, Camilla met several people whose work is integral in making the tournament run smoothly.

Among them was a dog handler and his dog, who are part of the security team keeping players and spectators at SW19 safe, as well as three of the ball kids, who do sterling work retrieving the errant balls that fly around the courts during matches.

Camilla meets some of the ball boys and girls (PA)

And during a chat with ball kids Larissa, Sean and Cassie, she made the admission about her past job - and joked it was "one hundred years ago" that she carried out the role of ball girl. It came as she asked the trio if they had previously worked at the tennis tournament and if they were enjoying the role.

And she admitted: "She said: 'You have to be very agile. I remember doing it one hundred years ago at Queen's (Club). It is quite difficult.'"

Afterwards, the Queen asked Sean if he was working across all of the courts for the Grand Slam championship, adding: "You must be feeling very fit." When Cassie said she had worked at a previous championship, Camilla joked, "So you are a bit of an expert?"

Camilla pets security search dog Flo and meets her handler Mark Mills (Getty Images)

Before then, Camilla smiled as she leaned down to pat Flo, a sniffer dog who works as part of the security team at the site and her handler Mark Mills. He explained: "(Flo) was lying down. She wasn't going to get up for Her Majesty – Her Majesty had to get down for her.

"I suddenly thought ['Oh my gosh, I made Her Majesty bend down to stroke her rather than she sit up for Her Majesty'. I'm just pleased (Flo) stayed as she was. She's very greedy this one and can be temperamental."

British former number one women’s tennis player Johanna Konta also met the Queen at Wimbledon.

Zara and Mike Tindall at Wimbledon today (WireImage)
The couple were attending the 10th day of the tournament (WireImage)

Konta, who is now retired, told Camilla she had been awake throughout the night with her 10-month-old baby and explained she had had to get dressed in the dark on Wednesday morning. The Queen asked if she was playing in the tournament and Konta said she would be part of a ladies’ invitation doubles game.

Camilla is joined in the royal box by her sister Annabel Elliot. Other notable attendees in the box today include Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips and his girlfriend, Lindsay Wallace.

Also at the tournament today, although not sitting in the royal box, is Peter's sister Zara Tindall and her husband Mike, who put on a loved-up display as they arrived at Wimbledon.

They happily posed for photographers as they arrived to watch the action on day 10 of the championships. The couple could be seen sharing a joke and smiling at each other as they entered the grounds.

Zara looked chic in a striped dress with wedge sandals, and she carried a cream blazer over her arm with a straw hat. Mike looked equally as smart in a shirt and tie, which he paired with dark grey trousers and a light grey blazer.

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