Charles and Camilla are ‘yin and yang’ but make an utterly formidable team, Queen’s sister says in new BBC documentary: Family members reveal the secrets of the couple’s unshakeable ‘bond’ in review of his Coronation year

Charles and Camilla are ‘yin and yang’ but make an utterly formidable team, friends and family have said.

Annabel Elliot, the Queen’s sister, described her as the King’s ‘rock’, while her close friend, Lady Lansdowne, said the fact that the couple had to ‘fight’ to be together has only strengthened their unshakeable ‘bond’.

And speaking publicly for the first time about the King and Queen’s long relationship, Princess Anne – not known for her emotional effusiveness – gave her sister-in-law the royal seal of approval.

‘I’ve known her a long time off and on. Her understanding of the role and how much difference it makes to the King has been absolutely outstanding,’ she said.

‘This role is not something that she’d be a natural for but she does it really well. She provides that change of speed and tone, that’s equally important.’

Queen’s sister: Annabel Elliot (pictured), described Camilla as the King’s ‘rock’

King Charles waved to the crowds as he and Queen Camilla walked to church yesterday

Stronger than ever: Charles and Camilla stroll around Birkhall in the BBC documentary

King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, following the coronation

Charles and Camilla are ‘yin and yang’ but make an utterly formidable team, friends and family have said

Queen Camilla and King Charles III ahead of the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, London, for the state visit to the UK by President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee on November 21, 2023

The women were interviewed for tonight’s BBC One royal documentary following Charles’s first year as monarch, Charles III: The Coronation Year.

Mrs Elliot, who acted as one of her sister’s two Ladies in Attendance on the day of the Coronation, added: ‘She is his rock, and I can’t actually emphasise that enough.

‘She’s somebody who is completely loyal and she isn’t somebody who has huge highs and lows.’

But she emphasised that it wasn’t a one-sided relationship, explaining: ‘He brings to her everything. I’m not talking about all of this [she said, referring to Buckingham Palace], but… he has such a knowledge and interest in so many different things, which she wouldn’t really have been open to if she hadn’t met him.

‘They are yin and yang, really. They really are polar opposites. But I think it works brilliantly.’

She added, waving her hand upwards to indicate their work rate: ‘Most of us as we get to this sort of age are thinking yes, quiet times. But theirs is just going to go like that.’

The documentary shows footage of the couple out walking the Queen’s Battersea Dogs and Cats Home rescue dog, Beth – a Jack Russell – at Birkhall, their beloved Scottish home.

Camilla is dressed casually in jeans and a jacket with Charles in a tweed jacket and tie.

The programme, which was produced by the Mail’s Robert Hardman, will also feature footage from last year’s Christmas broadcast.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the Royal Ascot on June 24 this year

King Charles and The Queen are ‘yin and yang’ but make an utterly formidable team, Camilla’s sister says in new BBC documentary following the monarch’s Christmas Day message

Lady Lansdowne, said the fact that the couple had to ‘fight’ to be together has only strengthened their unshakeable ‘bond’

They idly chat about how Beth ate a mouse last time they had been up there and remark how their grandchildren love to bounce on a rickety old bridge over the river that crosses their garden.

The two appear completely comfortable in each other’s company, instinctively finishing each other’s sentences after so many decades together.

Camilla’s long-term friend Fiona Lansdowne, one of her new Lady Companions – a modern-day Lady in Waiting – and her other Lady in Attendance at the Coronation, says of them: ‘They are an extraordinary team.

‘And I think it’s, whether they’ve sort of had to fight to get there, or whether it’s just because they’ve been through a lot together – it’s made them have a really strong bond.’

Britain’s Queen Camilla, King Charles III, Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales pose for a photograph ahead of the Diplomatic Reception in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace on December 5 this year

King Charles II and Camilla Queen Consort with Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen

Charles and Camilla at their wedding at Windsor Castle in April 2005

The King and Queen celebrated Christmas Day at Sandringham alongside other members of the Royal Family and attended a church service at St Mary Magdalene Church.

Charles was seen waving to crowds gathered outside the Norfolk Church to wish him and his family a happy Christmas.

He was closely followed by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who were joined by their children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five.

The Princess of Wales wore an elegant blue coat and matching hat as she smiled broadly while walking to church, holding the hand of her daughter Princess Charlotte.

Prince William also held his son’s hand while Prince George dressed in a navy blue suit, walked alongside his sister.

Prince Louis grinned as he shared a joke with Mia Tindall on Christmas morning

The King and Queen are to celebrate Christmas Day alongside other members of the royal family at Sandringham

The Princess of Wales held her daughter Princess Charlotte’s hand on the way to the church service

Queen Camilla greeted around 1,000 wellwishers outside the church on Monday

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh joined the rest of the Royal Family at the church service on Monday morning

Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson also joined the rest of the royal family on Monday

Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie attending the Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk

Lady Louise Windsor accompanies her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, to church

For the second year in succession the disgraced Duke of York walked from Sandringham to church with the family. 

His ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York walked behind him and smiled at the press in her first public appearance at Sandringham in years.

Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were with there husbands, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank respectively.

Notably absent from the Royal Christmas were the Duke of Duchess of Sussex who spent the holidays with their children in LA. 

In his Christmas message broadcast at 3pm on Monday, the King paid tribute to Britons who dedicate themselves to ‘service’.

It was recorded in the Centre Room in Buckingham Palace which leads on to the royal residence’s iconic balcony, and also featured a living Christmas tree in the background which will be replanted, complete with natural and sustainable decorations.

Charles, who has previously mentioned the importance of re-wearing clothes, donned the same blue single-breasted suit he wore in his address last year.

His second annual speech gave a nod to the environment, in a departure from the typically apolitical messages delivered by his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.