Camilla to quit Far East royal tour midway because she dislikes the heat

London, Oct.8 : Prince Charles and his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall, will undertake a 10-day tour of the Far East at the end of the month, but Camilla will return home half way because she dislikes the heat.

The trip, which will cost the British taxpayer 500,000 pounds, includes visits to Japan, Brunei, and Indonesia.

According to the Daily Express, Camilla's decision to quit the royal tour mid-way will raise fresh questions about her commitment to her royal duties.

The 61-year-old Duchess of Cornwall, who was once described by senior royal aide Mark Bolland as "monumentally lazy", already undertakes fewer duties than most other senior royals.

On the couple's last overseas tour to the Caribbean in March, she missed almost a quarter of the 44 engagements to spend more time relaxing or getting ready for dinner on a 50 million pound luxury yacht that the couple had hired.

In the first year after her April 2005 wedding to Charles, she carried out only 38 solo engagements - 20 fewer than the Queen Mother performed at the age of 92. Last year she undertook 201 official duties, compared to the Queen's 440 engagements at the age of 82.

Clarence House officials insisted that the Duchess, who had a hysterectomy last year and has looked uncomfortable in the heat on previous tours, is perfectly fit. They said she was just not up to the same robust program her husband will undertake on the tour, which comes immediately before his 60th birthday in November.

The couple will also travel to France for a ceremony to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War shortly afterwards.

They are undertaking the Far East tour at the request of Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Prince Charles will use the tour to reinforce his campaign to get world leaders to take urgent action to combat climate change and protect the globe's remaining rainforests, even though his own travels and those of his wife, who will return at the Prince's expense, will clock up a huge carbon footprint.

The Foreign Office is hoping the trip to each of the countries will boost trade and improve diplomatic ties between them and Britain.

Charles and Camilla will visit Japan for four days from October 27, then travel on to Brunei for two days before the Prince journeys alone to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, for four days, returning on November 5.

ANI