Queen Camilla Returns to Sussex — But It Has Nothing to Do With Prince Harry
Queen Camilla made a quick detour to her hometown pub when she visited Ashford Forest on Tuesday.
Queen Camilla is easily one of the busiest women in the monarchy. Ahead of her Wimbledon outing this week, she made a surprise visit to the Half Moon pub in her hometown, Plumpton, on Tuesday. Although the Queen Consort was primarily raised in the South Kensington neighborhood of central London, she spent a considerable amount of her childhood at her family’s estate in Plumpton. And this week, she marked a fun homecoming in the village.
But this is not the first time that Camilla has supported her hometown community. In June this year, she supported the village’s efforts to buy Fountain Inn, which its owners had put up for sale. The place was an Asset of Community Value, which meant that the East Sussex community had six months to buy it. The Queen Consort had wished them “good luck” for the efforts, according to the BBC. And now, the Fountain Inn Purchase Page posted a picture of Camilla posing at the Half Moon pub in Plumpton.
The latter reshared the photo on their Facebook page, calling the royal a “real character”, as they wrote, “the queen was talking about the fountain! A real character and lovely to welcome her. Such a lovely lady!” Camilla had donned a dark green-leaf patterned dress for the visit and could be seen giving a small smile.
Her pub outing took place on the same day as her visit to Ashdown Forest to mark 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh. The nature preserve was an inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood in A. A Milne classic children’s book. Camilla arrived at the venue in a black Range Rover and met with children’s authors and opened a trail named the Queen’s Walk. She further cut a cake to celebrate the milestone anniversary. Although she undertook the engagement as a patron of the Royal Literary Fund, the visit must certainly be close to her heart, as literacy and reading are among the most significant causes she champions.
The Queen Consort mentioned that it was “very nice to be back in Sussex” and that she spent a “lot of time as a child” playing Poohsticks. “Winnie-the-Pooh is a universal hero, people love him and his friends all over the world," she said via the BBC. “They'll come pouring in to see this new trail. A lovely experience for all, and especially children,” she added. Camilla even got the chance to reignite some of her childhood memories by playing Poohsticks with Gruffalo’s creator, Dame Julia Donaldson, its illustrator, Alex Scheffler, and the official Winnie-the-Pooh sequels writer, Jane Riordan.
As the group peered over the bridge’s edge, the Queen Consort said, “Mine's still going strong.” However, she did not win. After a hectic Sussex visit, Camilla attended British tennis star Andrew Frey's quarter-final bout at Wimbledon on Wednesday. She was joined by Peter Phillips and Harriet Phillips in the royal box.
