Queen Camilla has shared an update on her health after contracting a chest infection that forced her to step aside from royal duties. Camilla, 77, spoke about her ongoing recovery on Tuesday during a reception for The Booker Prize Foundation at Clarence House, the royal residence a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace where she and King Charles III live despite the palace being the monarch’s official residence. The event was Camilla’s first official royal engagement since the palace announced on Nov.

5 that the Queen was canceling all of her upcoming commitments so she could rest and recover from a chest infection. “I’m obviously getting much better, bit of sort of coughing going on,” the Queen could be heard saying in a video recorded at Tuesday’s reception shared on X by DailyMail royal correspondent Rebecca English. The Queen added, “I really wanted to come.

” “I’m on the mend, these things always take a bit of time to get rid of. You think you got rid of it, they just sort of hang on for a bit,” Camilla said in another clip while speaking with American author Percival Everett, whose book “James” is among those on the shortlist for this year’s Booker Prize. Camilla continued, “But hopefully, I’m on the mend now.

It’s nice to see you again.” A staunch literacy advocate, the Queen has been a longtime supporter of the Booker Prize, which held its annual awards ceremony in London Tuesday night. In 2021, during the height of the COVID pandem.