Camilla’s health over the years: Her broken toe, leg in plaster and hysterectomy

The Queen has been focused on the King’s health this year following his cancer diagnosis and has been credited with buoying the monarch with her support.

Camilla was dubbed the monarchy’s “saviour” and praised for keeping “the show on the road” in Charles’s absence while he was away from public-facing duties until April this year.

But the 77-year-old Queen, who has withdrawn from official engagements this week due to a chest infection, has had her own share of hospital stays and setbacks over the years.

She has suffered a broken leg, back pain, had a hysterectomy, and contracted Covid twice.

When the King acceded to the throne in 2022, Camilla was secretly nursing a broken toe as she carried out her first duties as the new Queen Consort.

She was in pain but was said to have been an “absolute trouper”, standing during lengthy public appearances such as the late Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state.

The former Mrs Parker Bowles took on the role of Queen Consort when she was 75 – an age at which many people are already well into retirement.

After one well-wisher in Cardiff remarked she must be absolutely exhausted, Camilla replied: “Yes, we are, but we have to carry on, stopping would be worse.”

In February 2022, the Queen Consort contracted Covid for a second time after suffering cold-like symptoms.

She cancelled engagements and spent time resting.

Almost exactly a year earlier, she also tested positive for coronavirus and self-isolated at home.

The Queen used to be a heavy smoker – a habit Charles loathes – but she gave up many years ago.

In 2019, she pulled out of a gala dinner on medical advice after contracting a chest infection.

A day later, she missed an event at Westminster Abbey’s Field of Remembrance with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, with Clarence House saying the infection had got progressively worse.

In 2010, Camilla spent several days in hospital and had to rest for six weeks after undergoing a hysterectomy – a major operation to remove her womb – when she was 59.

Aides confirmed the operation was not cancer-related.

She broke her left leg while hill walking in Scotland in 2010, but soldiered on, carrying out her engagements with her leg in plaster.

She used crutches and was pushed around in an NHS wheelchair.

The then Duchess of Cornwall even used a mobility scooter to present Afghanistan campaign medals to soldiers from A Company 4th Battalion The Rifles at Bulford Camp, near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

When her cast was finally removed, she joked: “I feel like a child without my prop.”

She also quipped about longing for her high heels, saying: “I’ll be glad to get back in the Jimmy Choos.”

The Queen, like the King, has sometimes suffered back problems.

A trapped nerve which had been causing her some pain forced her to cancel a number of engagements in Poland during a tour to eastern Europe with Charles in 2010.

A royal cushion – often a tartan one – is sometimes put in place for Camilla, alongside Charles’s, on royal engagements to provide comfort for her back.

Camilla keeps active. She has been a devotee of ballet for many years and attends weekly Royal Academy of Dance Silver Swan classes with her friends.

She also enjoys walking in the countryside with Charles, and they both share a passion for gardening and painting.

In 1994, it was feared she had broken her nose after she was thrown from the saddle while horse riding.

And in 2003, it was reported that Charles had been concerned enough to spend thousands of pounds on private medical treatment when back pain prevented Camilla from enjoying riding.

In 2004, the then-Prince of Wales’s household was forced to deal with incorrect reports from America that former smoker Camilla was suffering from lung cancer.

Aides issued an immediate denial.

On the eve of her 2005 wedding to Charles, it was reported she was so stressed about the much-anticipated ceremony that she was confined to bed, exhausted.

Royal tours have sometimes taken their toll.

In 2006, Camilla suffered in the scorching heat of the Rajasthan sun on her official visit to India with Charles.

She was twice forced to retreat into the shade from the 42C temperatures, taking a drink of water inside a small mud hut under the watchful eye of the royal doctor.

In 2007, Camilla cancelled two engagements in less than a month due to a stomach bug.

First she pulled out of an appearance at a Christmas pudding factory in December, and then was unable to make an event in Aberdeen in January.

She also missed a Diplomatic Corps reception at Buckingham Palace in 2015 after suffering from neck and shoulder pain.

This summer, on a short official trip to Guernsey, she was spotted with a bandage on her right foot, with the Palace saying she had suffered a slight ankle strain.

The next day, her 77th birthday, she was bandage-free when she attended the State Opening of Parliament alongside the King.