The Duchess of Cornwall gets teary as she reflects on her brother’s tragic death

By Georgia Farquharson
published

The Duchess of Cornwall has admitted reading a book by her late brother never fails to bring a tear to her eye.

Camilla’s brother, Mark Shand, penned Travels On My Elephant prior to his tragic death in 2014. And the Duchess has recommended it for people looking for solace in quarantine.

Credit: Getty

She said, “My late brother's tale of his love affair with Tara, an Asian elephant, on their journey across India - it always brings a tear to my eye.”

The book tells the story of the travel writer and conservationist’s six hundred mile trip across India on an elephant he named Tara.

Mark tragically died in 2014 aged just 62 as a result of serious head injury sustained after hitting his head in New York.

Speaking for the first time after his death six years ago, the Prince of Wales’ wife said, "An anguished voice on the other end told me that something terrible had happened to my brother; my indestructible brother, Mark. Surely nothing could have happened to him?

"He was in New York raising money for his beloved elephants, but an unfamiliar pavement had claimed his all-too-short life following a hugely successful auction for The Elephant Family, a charity he co-founded in 2002.

Credit: Getty

"My charismatic and sometimes infuriating brother, who had survived tsunamis, shipwrecks, poisoned arrows and even the fearsome Komodo dragons, was no longer with us."

But the Duchess finds comfort in re-reading his work.

With the country in lockdown over growing fears about coronavirus, The Duchess of Cornwall has shared a list of her favourite novels for others to enjoy and has listed her brother among the authors.

Having had to self-isolate for two weeks following Prince Charles testing positive for COVID-19, Camilla has no doubt had plenty of time to get her nose in a few good books. And she’d suggest everyone does the same.

Camilla said, “In these challenging times when we are isolated from the ones we love, many of us are finding comfort in reading, to fire up our imaginations, to take us on journeys and to make us laugh.

“With that in mind here is a list of my dearest 'friends', I hope you all enjoy them as much as I have and can I wish you all a very happy Easter.”

Georgia Farquharson
Celebrity writer

Georgia is a Celebrity and Royal Writer working across GoodTo and Woman & Home, and the Director and Founder of communications company Farq Media. Prior to this she was Online Editor at New! Magazine – managing all of their digital content and social media accounts. Where she interviewed all of the hottest reality TV stars and spent far too much time commuting to London. She trained at Nottingham Trent University – where she achieved First Class Honours in Print Journalism whilst juggling copious amounts of work experience, freelance writing, blogging and having far too much fun with the dance society. 

Latest