Editing Queen Camilla (section)

==Early life and education==
Camilla Rosemary Shand was born on 17 July 1947 at [[King's College Hospital]], London.{{Sfn|Graham|2005|p=9}}{{Efn|Some sources report that she was born in [[Plumpton, East Sussex|Plumpton]], but it seems that this is a confusion of her childhood home with her birthplace.}} Her family split their time between their 18th-century [[country house]]—[[The Laines]]<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1238285|desc=The Laines|access-date=28 June 2018}}</ref> in [[Plumpton, East Sussex]]{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=104}}—and their [[Townhouse (Great Britain)|London house]] in [[South Kensington]].{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=107}} Her parents were [[British Army]] officer-turned-businessman Major [[Bruce Shand]] and his wife, [[Rosalind Shand|Rosalind]], daughter of [[Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe]]. Camilla has a younger sister, [[Annabel Elliot]], and had a younger brother, [[Mark Shand]].<ref name="MarkShandDeath">{{Cite news |date=23 April 2014 |title=Duchess of Cornwall's brother dies |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27131635 |url-status=live |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021445/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27131635 |archive-date=12 November 2020}}</ref> One of her maternal great-grandmothers, [[Alice Keppel]], was a mistress of [[King Edward VII]].<ref>''The Times'', 4 November 1947.</ref>{{sfn|Souhami|p=9|1996}} 

Rosalind was a charity worker<ref>{{Cite web |title=Who we are: President and Patrons: Annabel Elliot |url=http://www.baaf.org.uk/about/president |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110417024808/http://www.baaf.org.uk/about/president |archive-date=17 April 2011 |access-date=26 September 2014 |website=baaf.org}}</ref> who during the 1960s and 1970s volunteered at the [[Chailey Heritage Foundation]] (which helps young children with disabilities) near their Sussex home. Bruce had various business interests after retiring from the army. He was most notably a partner in Block, Grey and Block, a firm of [[wine merchant]]s in [[South Audley Street]], [[Mayfair]], later joining Ellis, Son and Vidler of [[Hastings]] and London.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 June 2006 |title=Obituary: Bruce Shand |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5052478.stm |url-status=live |access-date=25 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101005948/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5052478.stm |archive-date=1 November 2020}}; {{Cite news |last=Klatell |first=James |date=11 June 2006 |title=Camilla 'Devastated' By Father's Death |work=CBS News |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/camilla-devastated-by-fathers-death |url-status=live |access-date=25 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203022951/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/camilla-devastated-by-fathers-death/ |archive-date=3 February 2021}}</ref>

On 1 November 1947, Shand was baptised at St. Peter's Church, [[Firle]], East Sussex.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Savage |first1=J. |title=Things you might not have known about Camilla, the nation's new Queen Consort |date=15 September 2022 | website=Belfast News Letter |publisher=National World Publishing |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/must-read/things-you-might-not-have-known-about-camilla-the-nations-new-queen-consort-3845186 |access-date=25 October 2024 |quote=On 1 November 1947, Camilla was baptised at Firle Church, East Sussex.}}</ref>

During her childhood, Shand became an avid reader through the influence of her father, who read to her frequently.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 February 2011 |title=The Duchess of Cornwall celebrates National Literacy Week |work=The Prince of Wales |url=http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/news-and-diary/the-duchess-of-cornwall-celebrates-national-literacy-week |url-status=live |access-date=6 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202152915/https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/news-and-diary/the-duchess-of-cornwall-celebrates-national-literacy-week |archive-date=2 December 2017}}</ref> She grew up with dogs and cats,{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=105}} and, at a young age, learnt how to ride by joining [[Pony Club]] camps, going on to win rosettes at community [[Gymkhana (equestrian)|gymkhanas]].{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=107}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Junor |title=The Duchess |page=32}}</ref> According to her, childhood "was perfect in every way".{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=104}} Biographer [[Gyles Brandreth]] describes her background and childhood:
{{blockquote|text=Camilla is often described as having had an "[[Enid Blyton]] sort of childhood". In fact, it was much grander than that. Camilla, as a little girl, may have had some personality traits of [[The Famous Five (novel series)#The Five|George]], the tomboy girl among the ''[[Famous Five]]'', but Enid Blyton's children were essentially middle-class children and the Shands, without question, belonged to the upper class. The Shands had position and they had help—help in the house, help in the garden, help with children. They were [[gentry]]. They opened their garden for the local [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] Association summer fête. Enough said.{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=105}}}}

When she was five, Shand was sent to Dumbrells, a [[co-educational school]] in [[Ditchling]] village.{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=105}} From the age of 10, she attended [[Queen's Gate School]] near her London home. Her classmates at Queen's Gate knew her as "Milla"; her fellow pupils included the singer [[Twinkle (singer)|Twinkle]] (Lynn Ripley), who described her as a girl of "inner strength" exuding "magnetism and confidence".{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|pp=108–109}} One of the teachers at the school, the writer [[Penelope Fitzgerald]], who taught French, remembered Shand as "bright and lively". Shand left Queen's Gate with one O-level in 1964; her parents did not make her stay long enough for A-levels.{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=108}} Aged 16, she attended the Mont Fertile finishing school in [[Tolochenaz]], Switzerland.<ref name="PoW-CE">{{Cite web |title=Childhood and Education |url=https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/the-duchess-of-cornwall/biography/childhood-and-education |work=The Prince of Wales |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013225130/https://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/the-duchess-of-cornwall/biography/childhood-and-education |archive-date=13 October 2017 |access-date=13 October 2017}}</ref> After completing her course there, she studied French and French literature at the [[British Institute in Paris]] for six months.<ref name="PoW-CE"/>{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|pp=146–47}}<ref name="french">{{Cite magazine |date=28 May 2013 |title=Camilla admits to nerves over her 'rusty' French as she embarks on first solo visit abroad |url=http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2013052812780/duchess-cornwall-solo-paris-visit |url-status=live |magazine=Hello! |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121214359/https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2013052812780/duchess-cornwall-solo-paris-visit/ |archive-date=21 January 2021 |access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref>

On 25 March 1965, Shand was a [[debutante]] in London,{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=160}} one of 311 that year. After moving from home, she shared a small flat in [[Kensington]] with her friend Jane Wyndham, niece of decorator [[Nancy Lancaster]]. She later moved into a larger flat in [[Belgravia]], which she shared with her landlady [[Lady Moyra Campbell]], the daughter of the [[4th Duke of Abercorn]], and later with Virginia Carington, daughter of the [[6th Baron Carrington]].<ref>Wilson, pp. 16–17</ref> Virginia was married to Shand's uncle [[Henry Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe|Lord Ashcombe]] from 1973 until 1979,{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=172}} and in 2005 became a special aide to Camilla and [[Charles III|Charles]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 November 2005 |title=More help for Charles and Camilla |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/suffolk/4464830.stm |url-status=live |access-date=22 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214010842/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/suffolk/4464830.stm |archive-date=14 December 2020}}</ref> Shand worked as a secretary for a variety of firms in the [[West End of London|West End]], and as a receptionist for the decorating firm [[Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler]] in Mayfair.{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=171}} She was reportedly fired from the job after "she came in late, having been to a dance".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Perry |first=Simon |date=1 November 2016 |title=Why Was Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall Fired from Her First Job? (Hint: It's Something Everyone Has Done Once!) |url=https://people.com/royals/why-was-camilla-duchess-of-cornwall-fired-from-her-first-job-hint-its-something-everyone-has-done-once/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216211250/https://people.com/royals/why-was-camilla-duchess-of-cornwall-fired-from-her-first-job-hint-its-something-everyone-has-done-once/ |archive-date=16 December 2021 |access-date=16 December 2021 |magazine=People}}</ref>

Shand continued to ride, and frequently attended equestrian activities.{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|p=178}} She also had a passion for painting, which eventually led to her private tutoring with an artist, although most of her work "ended up in the bin".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perry |first=Keith |date=18 February 2014 |title=My paintings were so bad they went in bin, jokes Duchess of Cornwall |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/10647626/My-paintings-were-so-bad-they-went-in-bin-jokes-Duchess-of-Cornwall.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/10647626/My-paintings-were-so-bad-they-went-in-bin-jokes-Duchess-of-Cornwall.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |access-date=7 September 2014 |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Other interests were fishing, horticulture and gardening.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=David |date=12 February 2005 |title=The rise and rise of Queen Camilla |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/feb/13/monarchy.davidsmith |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105011259/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/feb/13/monarchy.davidsmith |archive-date=5 November 2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Brandreth|2007|pp=187–88}}