Buckingham Palace released a new portrait of the Queen to commemorate her birthday
Queen Camilla is ringing in her birthday with a new royal portrait.
On July 16, Buckingham Palace released a new portrait of the Queen on the eve of her 78th birthday. King Charles’s wife will mark the milestone on Thursday, July 17, and was photographed earlier this month in the garden of Ray Mill House by royal photographer Chris Jackson of Getty Images.
In the photo, Queen Camilla smiles warmly with her arms resting on a fence. The image was taken in an intimate setting at Ray Mill House, her private residence in Wiltshire. She purchased the home in 1996 following her divorce from her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, and retained ownership even after moving into Clarence House with Charles, then Prince of Wales, in 2003.
The home, which sits on 12 acres of orchards and gardens and boasts a swimming pool and stables, has remained central to her personal life ever since. Located just a 15-minute drive from Highgrove House — King Charles’s private country estate — the Queen retreats to Raymill most weekends for a peaceful escape.
Queen Camilla has been by the King’s side during every step of his reign and as he has navigated a cancer diagnosis that the palace announced in February 2024.
“She is his strength and stay like [Prince Philip] was for the late Queen [Elizabeth],” a palace insider told PEOPLE at the time.
“She will be great. She will rally him, she will buoy him. She is amazing. She equips him to do the job he has to do.”
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On the eve of her birthday, Queen Camilla had a busy day of work in Devon. There, she visited the Children’s Hospice South West that she backs as patron and was conferred with the historic title of Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom by the Royal Navy, receiving the recognition for her support of the force.
“I’m incredibly proud of her. She’s at an age when most people think of retiring, but she never complains; she just gets on with it,” her son, Tom Parker Bowles, previously told PEOPLE.
