Queen Camilla is still on vacation and will be through the weekend. Her next scheduled appearance is on Commonwealth Day, March 11, where she will “lead the family” at a service at Westminster Abbey in her husband’s absence. Prince William is scheduled to appear alongside his stepmother but we’ll see if that really happens. Camilla’s holiday this week didn’t exactly land the way she hoped – she thought people would be like “of course she needs time off, she’s been carrying the Windsors on her back!” Instead, people were like “thirteen events in one month isn’t really working your fingers to the bone, Cammy Cakes.” There are also rumors of a larger rift between Camilla and Prince William, but who even knows at this point. So, it’s time for Camilla’s allies to try to refocus the narrative: Camilla is “shattered” and overworked, but she would never complain about it.

Shattered: “She is absolutely shattered and exhausted by the turmoil of the past two months,” a friend of Camilla’s told The Daily Beast. “She is 76 years old, and her husband has just been diagnosed with cancer. Anyone would find that a lot to deal with, without the media scrutiny that comes with her position as well.”

She would never complain about anything! Another friend of the family told The Daily Beast: “Camilla has basically had to do everything in recent months, and it is no secret that it has been tiring. She has been under extraordinary pressure at a time in her life when most people are well into their retirement. You would never hear her moan about it because she knows it goes with the territory, but everyone is just very glad she is taking some time for herself, especially as this could go on for several more months.”

She works so hard, you guys: Asked how Camilla felt about taking on so much more work than she had likely anticipated—Camilla has undertaken 13 official engagements since the king’s cancer diagnosis was announced on February 5, and has been the public face of the monarchy since then—one of her friends said: “It wasn’t what she anticipated but, as anyone who knows her will tell you, she is not a complainer. She is proud to support her husband. We are all just very happy that she has actually gone ahead and taken this week off.”

No one knows where she is: Asked if they knew where Camilla had gone, the friend would only say her destination was overseas and extremely private. The Daily Beast has not been able to confirm her destination. The palace did not respond to a request for comment. There is little doubt however that her absence has left the royal family, which was already notably short-staffed before, looking even more threadbare.

William still refuses to do much: While there are increasing calls in mainstream and social media for William to return to a fuller schedule of engagements, especially after he cancelled a high-profile appearance at a memorial service for his godfather, the last king of Greece, last week, The Daily Beast has been told that William is determined to stick to his guns and maintain a light schedule until his wife is fully recovered, likely around Easter. The couple are not expected to travel abroad much this year, if at all.

Camilla’s holiday was a mistake?? A former palace staffer told The Daily Beast: “I totally get Camilla taking time off, she needs it, but my personal view is that it will probably turn out to be a mistake for her to have got on a plane. The reason the queen never went abroad for holidays is that their staff just can’t protect their privacy overseas in the same way they can at the royal estates. With everything going on, it’s not the perfect time to be chilling by a pool. If she had stayed in the U.K. they wouldn’t have even had to announce anything.”

[From The Daily Beast]

See, I think if Camilla had announced a week off with the time spent at Ray Mill or Highgrove, people would have been more accepting of that – a staycation, if you will, where Camilla would be seen as “on call” in case of emergency, and physically close to her ill husband. Jetting off on an overseas holiday while her husband has cancer and while the working-royal ranks are so threadbare… that’s a huge problem. I love how these sources are like “Camilla never complains” whilst complaining on her behalf. Please: Charles, Camilla, Kate, William, Sophie, Edward – they all complain and explain constantly.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.