Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall She has a younger sister, Annabel Elliot, and had a younger brother, Mark Shand (1951–2014). Her maternal great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, was a mistress of King Edward VII from 1898 to 1910. On 1 November 1947, Camilla was baptised at Firle Church, East Sussex. Camilla's mother worked for an adoption agency, while her father had various business interests after retiring from the army. He was most notably a partner in Block, Grey and Block, a firm of wine merchants in South Audley Street, Mayfair, later joining Ellis, Son and Vidler of Hastings and London. During her childhood years, Camilla became an
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall avid reader due to the influence of her father, who read to her frequently. She grew up with dogs and cats, and, at a young age, learnt how to ride a pony by joining Pony Club camps which garnered her frequent rosettes at community gymkhanas. According to her, childhood "was perfect in every way". Biographer Gyles Brandreth describes her background and childhood: At the age of five, Camilla was sent to Dumbrells, a co-educational school in Ditchling village. She left Dumbrells aged ten to attend Queen's Gate School in Queen's Gate, South Kensington. Her classmates at Queen's Gate knew her