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Uncomfortable: The Duchess of Cornwall, delivering meals on wheels to pensioners yesterday, will pull out halfway through a tour of East Asia

The Duchess of Cornwall will pull out halfway through a planned royal tour of East Asia because it will be 'too hot', it was claimed yesterday.

Camilla and Prince Charles are due to go on a high-profile trip to Japan, Brunei and Indonesia later this month.

However, Clarence House has admitted that Camilla will not complete the last part of the visit - which includes a trip to the rainforest - as it will be 'too arduous'.

A senior royal aide rejected criticism that the Duchess was work-shy, insisting that she was 'very committed' to the ten-day tour.

However, he added that the Duchess needed to 'catch her breath' at home before Remembrance Sunday and Charles's 60th birthday celebrations.

Critics of the Duchess - who was once dubbed the 'laziest woman in Britain' by a former aide - have seized on the admission.

Graham Smith, of anti-monarchist group Republic, said: 'If Camilla wants to enjoy the taxpayer funded perks of being a member of the Royal Family she needs to pull her weight.'

The couple will visit Japan for four days from October 27, then travel on to Brunei for two days before Camilla returns to Britain. The prince will follow her home four days later.
The cost of the trip is estimated to be around £250,000.

Charles and Camilla will be travelling in a privately chartered plane which officials have insisted is the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to travel between three countries in such a short time.

'Arduous': Camilla - accused of being lazy - said the full tour would be too gruelling

Charles's 15-strong entourage - plus security detail - is 'significantly smaller' than in previous years, a spokesman said. The Duchess's entourage includes her private secretary, dresser and at least two bodyguards.

Royal staff took pains to point out that the prince will pay for his wife and her staff to fly back on a scheduled flight.

Asked why the Duchess was pulling out early, a source said the trip was simply too gruelling.

'It is a long tour, conditions in Brunei are difficult and in Indonesia even more so,' he said.

Feeling the heat: Camilla and Prince Charles on tour in Jamaica

'It is not a comfortable environment. It is not entirely fair to say that it is just about it being too hot. It is an arduous environment, though.
'It is also fantastically busy when they get back. The Duchess needs a bit of time to catch her breath.'

Camilla, 61, who spent the majority of her life as a housewife and mother before marrying the future king in 2005, has struggled with the pace of foreign tours in the past.
During a sweltering trip to India in 2006 she almost fainted.

The Queen, who was 82 this year, and the 87-year-old Duke of Edinburgh carry out almost twice as many engagements every year as the Duchess.




Source: Daily Mail UK., October 8, 2008

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miaow1988

faint. abit heat also faint...the queen is better than her.