Woman's Hour

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Woman's Hour: The role of Queen Consort; Samantha Cameron, Ophelia Lovibond, Women's Institute

The role of Queen Consort; Samantha Cameron, Ophelia Lovibond, Women's Institute

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, The role of Queen Consort; Samantha Cameron, Ophelia Lovibond, Women's Institute

How will Camilla, former Duchess of Cornwall, make the role of Queen Consort her own?

King Charles the Third is our new monarch. At his accession to the throne, his wife Camilla became Queen Consort, and his daughter-in-law Kate is now the Duchess of Cambridge and Cornwall. Royal Editor at the Daily Mail Rebecca English and historian and author Dr Estelle Paranque join Emma Barnett to talk about what this means for the female royals.  Emma also speaks to Diana Parkes about her experience of working with the former Duchess of Cornwall on domestic abuse issues - a cause she has expressed a hope of being able to continue supporting as Queen Consort.

Samantha Cameron, the chief executive of the clothing company Cefinn, and the wife of the former Prime Minister David Cameron, will be attending Her Majesty's funeral on Monday.   She speaks to Emma about her memories of The Queen, including being given a medal by her for running around Balmoral.  She also offers an insight into what it will be like for the former Duchess of Cornwall to be the partner of a man who is taking on a huge new role.

Ophelia Lovibond is perhaps best known for playing Izzy Gould in the BBC TV mockumentary series W1A. Later this month, you can see her take on the role of Carrie Symonds alongside Kenneth Branagh as Prime Minister Boris Johnson in This England, set during the Covid crisis. But from Wednesday this week you can catch her in the leading role in new series Minx on Paramount Plus. Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Minx centres around Joyce, an earnest young feminist who dreams of producing a magazine by, for and about women but ends up joining forces with a low rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.  Olivia joins Emma.

The Women's Institute was formed in 1915, designed to bring together women in rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War.  It has evolved over the years and is now the largest voluntary organisation in the UK with more than 212,000 members in over 6,600 groups.  The Queen was its longest serving member of 79 years, joining as a young Princess.  She was also president of her local WI group at Sandringham in Norfolk - a position she honoured every year.  Ann Jones, National Chair of the WI joins Emma.

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The role of Queen Consort; Samantha Cameron, Ophelia Lovibond, Women's Institute

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