The Queen Consort has been left “deeply saddened” at the death of her friend, TV presenter Paul O’Grady, whose “warm heart and infectious humour lit up the lives of so many”.
The pair shared a special bond over their love of dogs, met many times and worked closely together in support of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
The royal family’s official Twitter account paid tribute to the star, saying: “Deeply saddened to hear of the death of Paul O’Grady, who worked closely with Her Majesty in support of @Battersea_, providing lots of laughter and many waggy-tailed memories.”
It posted an image of the Queen Consort smiling alongside O’Grady after they took a rescued West Highland Terrier for a walk during a visit to a Battersea centre in Kent last year.
A source said Camilla would be sharing her sympathies with O’Grady’s family privately.
Deeply saddened to hear of the death of Paul O’Grady, who worked closely with Her Majesty in support of @Battersea_, providing lots of laughter and many waggy-tailed memories. pic.twitter.com/N13aBuBYCm
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 29, 2023
They added that the Queen Consort was “deeply saddened” to hear of his sudden death at the age of 67 and that his “warm heart and infectious humour lit up the lives of so many”.
As part of its tributes, ITV will be reshowing the special episode of O’Grady’s hit show For The Love Of Dogs which featured the Queen Consort at 5pm on Wednesday.
Camilla is patron of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and O’Grady was a long-time ambassador for the animal welfare charity.
He spoke of his affection for Camilla in February last year when their dogs took part in a loyalty duel at Battersea’s Brands Hatch centre in Kent, as part of filming for his show.
Praising the then Duchess of Cornwall’s commitment to Battersea, he said: “I just love her, she’s great.”
Camilla – who has two rescue Jack Russells called Beth and Bluebell – took Beth along to compete with O’Grady’s dog Sausage.
The royal pet managed to ignore toys and treats to run back to her owner to win the trial.
O’Grady also met the late Queen alongside Britain’s Got Talent presenter Amanda Holden at Battersea’s south London kennels in 2015, but an endeavour to get the monarch to adopt a new corgi were not successful.
Holden asked the Queen whether she wanted to take home a 12-year-old corgi called Beama, with the Queen replying: “Not at the moment.”
Attempts to persuade her failed, with the bemused Queen declaring to watching reporters: “You’re all mad,” before walking off.
O’Grady later recalled the encounter, saying: “The Queen said no and the Duke of Edinburgh gave Amanda a look that would melt concrete.
“She said to me afterwards: ‘I think I’ve upset the Queen,’ and I said: ‘I know you have.’
“She’s in her 80s, why does she want a corgi who’ll attack her other dogs while she breaks her neck over them? She doesn’t want that.'”
