Queen Camilla beamed today as she stepped out in London to unveil the foundation stone for a sacred building which is being constructed in honour of King Charles. The Queen visited Westminster Abbey to unveil The King Charles III Sacristy’s foundation stone, the building of which is located on the grounds of the Abbey. She was joined by her sister, Annabel Elliot, who also appeared alongside her at a charity fundraising event at Kew Gardens on Tuesday.
The sacristy will house state-of-the-art welcome, security and ticketing facilities, allowing the Abbey itself to be preserved as a sacred space. Camilla, who is patron of the Westminster Abbey Sacristy Project, looked stunning in a black polka dot shirt dress by Fiona Clare, reminiscent of the Princess of Wales’s recent outing in London wearing a similar ensemble. Princess Kate wore a recycled white polka dot dress by Alessandra Rich last week to attend a Thanksgiving service also at the Abbey to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2.
Today, Camilla was welcomed by the Dean of Westminster before she met the sacristy’s architect, Ptolemy Dean. She was seen greeting Prince William’s close pal and Princess Charlotte’s godfather, Thomas van Straubenzee.
She toured the Abbey and met staff while taking a particular interest at an updated memorial to the Brontë sisters.
The Queen also joined a ceremony at the Sacristy site, which included prayers and a short performance by the Abbey Choir, and met Alan Titchmarsh, Ambassador to the Sacristy Project, before attending a reception with those involved in the project.
The sacristy building is being constructed on the footprint of the medieval Great Sacristy, built in the 1250s during Henry III’s reconstruction of the Abbey.
The Sacristy was where the monks kept vestments, altar linens, and other sacred items used in daily worship, and played an important role in the life of the Abbey as a place for the formation of processions on church and state occasions.
It’s been a busy week for Camilla, who attended an event on Tuesday to support the Elephant Family, a wildlife conservation charity founded by her late brother Mark Shand.
The event, called Wonders of the Wild: An Evening of Art and Conservation, was set up as a celebration of art and nature and a fundraiser for the charity, which works with conservation experts to tackle the challenges facing Asia’s wildlife and the communities that live alongside it.
It also saw the grand finale of the Big Egg Hunt fundraiser. The campaign featured 123 giant egg sculptures designed by leading names from fashion, art and design that were displayed across London as part of a free art trail at sites including Buckingham Palace, Battersea Power Station, the Royal Albert Hall, Sloane Street and Canary Wharf.