Camilla: ‘Times have changed’ says Dr Anna Whitelock

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In a recent interview with Gloria Hunniford on BBC One’s Morning Live, Prince Charles’ wife mentioned her terrible experience of having to watch her mother suffer from osteoporosis. Osteoporosis weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to break.

Sometimes a cough or sneeze can be enough to cause a broken rib or the partial collapse of one of the bones of the spine with excruciating pain.

Both her mother Rosalind Shand and her maternal grandmother, Sonia Keppel, had to live with the illness in their last years.

“My mother went to see everybody you could possibly think of,” she recalled.

“And they all said the same thing: ‘Sorry, you’re old.’

“Occasionally, when she moved or you touched her, she literally screamed.

“I remember when a friend of hers came in one day just to give her a hug, and her rib broke – it was as bad as that.

“We just watched her shrinking before our eyes.

“It was terrible because we didn’t know anything about it, so at some point, we thought well ‘is she making a great fuss about all this?’”

The Duchess has been president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society for 20 years, and thinks now is time to raise awareness on the illness among a younger public.

“I think one of the most interesting points is getting this knowledge out to young people,” she said.

“I think my daughter’s generation does listen, it’s just getting through to grandchildren.

“But you know they’re starting to be teenagers.

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“I would show them pictures of my mother, before and after she got osteoporosis.

“I would make them look at these photographs and say: ‘Look, if you don’t take care, that’s what will happen to you.'”

“The thing about osteoporosis is you can prevent it, but you can’t cure it,” said the Duchess.

“You have to prevent it by taking a look at yourself and saying: ‘I don’t want to have this disease.’

“You must take a lot of exercise, walking in particular.

“I’d like to see more young people being educated and being more understanding about it.

“Not just thinking ‘poor old bats,’ but actually understanding what happens and how they can prevent it.”

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