Each year The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall conduct hundreds of engagements throughout the United Kingdom and, away from the public gaze, conduct a similar amount of private engagements.

The Duchess of Cornwall supports her husband The Prince of Wales in his work and role as Heir to the Throne, and in addition, supports a number of her own charities and organisations in the role of President or Patron.

Since becoming The Duchess of Cornwall, Her Royal Highness has travelled across the United Kingdom both with The Prince and on solo engagements, meeting people from all walks of life. The Duchess has also accompanied His Royal Highness on overseas tours, most recently Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Montserrat and Jamaica in March 2008 to develop and maintain ties with these important Commonwealth countries.

Royal Engagements

As with other members of the Royal Family, Their Royal Highnesses’ official royal engagements involve meeting people from across the country, recognising excellence, and rewarding achievement.

Charity work takes up a great deal of Her Royal Highness’s time. The Duchess of Cornwall is Patron or President of more than 40 organisations whose work she wishes to support.They cover a wide range of themes, from health, vulnerable people, young people, the arts and heritage, animals and animal welfare.

Her Royal Highness supports The Prince of Wales on many of his engagements, and undertakes full days of engagements by herself. These are frequently related to her own charities and organisations and can vary widely.

One day The Duchess might be opening a new bone unit in her role as President of the National Osteoporosis Society, presenting awards to British riders in her role as Patron of the British Equestrian Federation, meeting young people helped by Barnardo’s, watching young performers from the Elmhurst School for Dance, or chatting to children and young adults with life-shortening conditions at Helen and Douglas House.

Here are some typical engagements (taken from 20th January 2009):

10am

The Duchess of Cornwall became President of Barnardo’s in 2007 and toured the Barnardo’s village, including the Dr. Barnardo museum and Children’s Church in Ilford, Essex. The Duchess visited the ‘Making Connections’ house where she met former service users and view historic Barnardo’s records. During the visit, The Duchess met staff, presented ambassador certificates and attended a reception for supporters. She also met seven new celebrity ambassadors including Melinda Messenger, Christopher Biggins and Nina Wadia. Barnardo’s believes that it can bring out the best in every child whether they have been affected by drug misuse, disability, youth crime, mental health, sexual abuse, domestic violence, poverty or homelessness. The charity runs almost 400 projects around the UK.

At the end of the visit The Duchess of Cornwall gave a short speech and said the visit was "incredibly moving".

1.15pm

The Duchess of Cornwall visited Bedrock Hospital Radio at Queen’s Hospital in Romford Essex. Her Royal Highness visited the radio station studio and met presenters and volunteers. Bedrock is a charity, established in June 2002, providing an internal hospital radio service from the first floor of the Queen’s Hospital, Romford. The station provides a popular service for staff and patients, free of charge, and has an open music policy. Bedrock was established in 2002, amalgamating Oldchurch radio and Harold Wood Hospital Radio. It is funded by voluntary donations from the general public and by fund raising events such as fetes, discos, regular lotteries and quiz evenings. The Duchess requested a song (Mamma Mia by ABBA), and afterwards visited a hospital ward to meet patients who listen to the radio station, Queen’s Hospital, Romford, Essex.

Charities

Her Royal Highness has been associated with the National Osteoporosis Society for many years, first as Patron in 1997 and then as President since 2001. The Duchess is particularly active in helping to raise awareness of osteoporosis, a brittle bone disease which afflicted both her mother and grandmother. Over the years, The Duchess has shown her commitment to the charity by visiting bone units and hospitals across the country, meeting patients, showing support for local fundraisers and opening new bone scanners. She raised £200,000 in sponsorship herself by participating in the 10-mile Big Bone Walk around Loch Muick in 2006.

The Duchess of Cornwall is supported in her work by her office which helps to organise her diary and handles invitations from across the country. Her Royal Highness is closely involved with all aspects of her working life and deals directly with the Chief Executives of her charities.

Her Royal Highness reads correspondence sent by members of the public and responds to many of the letters herself. In 2007 to 2008, she handwrote 1294 letters personally.

The Duchess of Cornwall writes messages for conferences, or meetings that she is unable to attend but would like to contribute to in some way.

For example, in November 2007, as a member of the Tetbury Women’s Institute (WI), Her Royal Highness contributed a foreword for a book compiled by the WI in Gloucestershire, which was aimed at raising money for people affected by the devastating floods which swept across the county in the summer of 2007.

The Armed Services

Her Royal Highness accompanies The Prince on many of his visits to the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. She also has her own military appointments: she is Royal Colonel of the 4th Battalion The Rifles, Commodore-in-Chief of Naval Medical Services, Royal Navy and Lady Sponsor of HMS Astute.

The Duchess enjoys her responsibilities as Royal Colonel of 4th Battalion The Rifles very much, and maintains a close interest in the battalion: meeting personnel, receiving regular briefings from the Commanding Officer and has personal contact with bereaved families and injured servicemen.

Her Royal Highness keeps in regular contact with the Commanding Officer who tells her all she needs to know about her troops while they are on deployment and in the UK. She takes a keen interest in all matters concerning their welfare, and has visited the headquarters of 4th Battalion The Rifles at Bulford Camp in Wiltshire several times since becoming Royal Colonel.

The Duchess of Cornwall also regularly performs medal presentations wherever she can and meets with troops, their families and injured soldiers whenever possible. As of July 2008, The Duchess had already presented over 500 medals to members of her battalion.

Overseas tours

In 2007 – 2008, 50 of The Duchess’s engagements were overseas. Together, Their Royal Highnesses are two of the United Kingdom’s most important ambassadors and Her Royal Highness often undertakes some of her own engagements when overseas, particularly when they are associated with charities of which she is Patron.

For example, The Duchess visited the Brooke Hospital for Animals in India and Pakistan. After visiting the earthquake-hit Himalayan area of Pakistan and seeing the vital work performed by Cornwall-based disaster relief charity Shelterbox, Her Royal Highness became the charity’s President.

Official entertaining

Official entertaining is an important part of Their Royal Highnesses role, and it does not always take place in the evening.

In the year 2007–08 Their Royal Highnesses entertained 8162 guests at Clarence House and other Royal Residences.

These occasions range from receiving official guests and foreign dignitaries to giving dinners and concerts to recognise excellence and achievement across the country or to thank those involved with Their Royal Highnesses’ charities. In 2007 – 2008 The Prince and The Duchess gave 75 receptions, seminars, lunches and dinners.

In the evening Their Royal Highnesses regularly attend concerts, theatre shows, royal premieres or gala evenings.

These are often fundraising events for charities with which Their Royal Highnesses are affiliated or, as they are both great supporters of the arts, they may also attend in a private capacity when commitments allow.

Interests

The Duchess of Cornwall likes to spend as much of her spare time as possible with her children and two grandchildren.

She also has a number of interests. Her Royal Highness, who is a keen horsewoman and rides as often as she can, has two horses at Highgrove.

The Duchess owns two pet Jack Russells, Tosca and Rosie.

Like The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall enjoys gardening and has a particular interest in arranging flowers for her homes and also enjoys painting in oils.

She is a member of the Tetbury Women’s Institute, close to Their Royal Highnesses’ family home at Highgrove.

Click here to visit The Duchess of Cornwall's official website.