Duchess of Cornwall once got sacked for turning up late after night out partying
THE DUCHESS of Cornwall was once fired from her job for turning up late after a night of partying, it has been reported.
Camilla was sacked for coming into work late after a night out dancing
Then known as Camilla Shand, she fell foul of an irate boss while working for interior décor firm Colefax and Fowler in London’s Mayfair in the mid-1960s.
The revelation was made by Imogen Taylor, who joined the company in 1949.
Ms Taylor, 90, claimed: “There were lots of debutantes working for us, even Camilla. She worked for us for a moment but got the sack.”
The Duchess of Cornwall was fond of the London party scene
In her book On the Fringe – a Life in Decorating, Ms Taylor remembers that Camilla’s boss was temperamental.
She writes: “He would shout and bellow so the whole building heard every word – ‘Get out you silly b****’.
“The Duchess of Cornwall was one assistant who fell victim to one of [his] tantrums. I think she came in late having been to a dance.”
Camilla was fired from her job at the firm Colefax and Fowler in Mayfair
I think she came in late having been to a dance
Biographers have previously noted that Camilla, now 69 and married to Prince Charles, was fond of partying on the London scene.
She was described as “terrific fun” and “popular”. Born Camilla Rosemary Shand, the Duchess of Cornwall is the daughter of Major Bruce Middleton Hope Shand and his wife Rosalind.
The Duchess was apparently extremely fun and popular
She spent her childhood in Sussex with her siblings, Annabel and Mark. Her biographer Giles Brandreth, says her upbringing was a grand one.
“Camilla is often described as having had an ‘Enid Blyton’ sort of childhood”, he writes. In fact, it was much grander than that.”
After attending a Swiss finishing school, Camilla became a debutante in 1965. In the late 1960s, she met first husband, cavalry officer Andrew Parker-Bowles.