King is ‘fine’ and ‘looking forward to getting back to work’, Camilla says

Camilla was on a solo visit to Aberdeen Art Gallery on Thursday to open its new Safe Space, an initiative to provide help and guidance to people if they suspect someone is living with domestic abuse.

Asked about the King by the Lord Provost, she replied: “He’s fine, thank-you very much. Looking forward to getting back to work.”

The King, who is at his private home Birkhall in Aberdeenshire, is preparing for a corrective procedure after being diagnosed with a benign enlarged prostate.

Buckingham Palace, in an unprecedented double royal health scare, announced the news on Wednesday just an hour-and-a-half after Kensington Palace revealed the Princess of Wales had undergone abdominal surgery.

The 75-year-old monarch, who acceded to the throne 16 months ago, will be admitted to hospital next week.

Camilla appeared cheery, adopting the keep calm and carry on approach often associated with the late Queen.

Lord Provost David Cameron was among a group of officials who greeted Camilla on her arrival at the gallery.

The Queen focused on the importance of bringing an end to this “terrible domestic abuse” as she opened the Safe Space.

She said: “I hope a lot of other cities will follow suit.

“It’s so important having a safe space for people who have undergone all these terrible things.

“Somewhere where they come and feel safe and have somebody to talk to who understands what they’re going through, so I think you’re pioneers to have it in this wonderful gallery which I’ve had the pleasure of visiting before and, just to say, it helps so much with this campaign to hopefully one day obliterate this terrible domestic abuse.”

She said she thinks that “Scotland is going the right way about it,” adding: “You just need more people to get involved and more people to be heard because the more it’s talked about the more people are able to do something about it.”

Camilla was introduced to Suzanne Jacob, chief executive of domestic abuse charity SafeLives which is behind the Safe Space initiative, and Aberdeen City Council chief executive Angela Scott.

The Queen, who last visited the gallery with the King in 2021 – met the team which has been trained to obtain the venue’s Safe Space status as well as other SafeLives representatives.

She was introduced to artist Shelagh Swanson, who has created artwork inspired by her experiences of surviving domestic abuse.

The art will be visible both internally and externally, to signify the venue as a safe space location.

Camilla concluded her visit by officially unveiling Swanson’s artwork in memory of survivors and those lost to domestic abuse.

Swanson said it was a “total honour” to meet her.

She said: “I just basically thanked her for coming here and shining the spotlight on this because it’s such an important thing.

“The way she spoke about it you can tell that she’s genuinely interested and she wants to eradicate this as much as we all do.”

She added: “I’m the artist and made it but it’s about this whole campaign and that’s what’s important – that’s what we’re we’re celebrating today.”