Queen Camilla Returns from Balmoral and Admits She's "A Little Creaky" at Dance Academy Visit
Queen Camilla told a former ballet teacher she was "a little creaky" but "still standing" on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, during her first public engagement after the summer at Balmoral.
The remark came at the Royal Academy of Dance's global headquarters on York Road in London, where the Queen, aged 79, was visiting in her role as patron — a position she took up in 2024. Asked how she was feeling, she replied: "I'm still standing!" then added with a laugh, "just!", before telling the room: "But I'm a little creaky" (Hello!).
The question came from Sarah Platt, a former Royal Academy of Dance teacher trainer who once ran dance lessons for the Queen at Clarence House. Platt first met Camilla during an official engagement in 2017, when Camilla — then Duchess of Cornwall — was introduced to RAD students training to become dance teachers and watched a Silver Swans ballet class for over-55s, a programme Platt herself created (Hello!).
The reunion had some star power in the room. Dame Darcey Bussell, the former Strictly Come Dancing judge and principal of The Royal Ballet, is president of the RAD and was present for the visit. Tim Arthur is the academy's chief executive (royal.uk).
The royal family's official Instagram account shared footage of the visit on the same day (The News International). The engagement was Camilla's first since the royal family's summer break at Balmoral Castle in Scotland (Hello!).
It was not the only item on the royal calendar that day. Earlier on 2 September, King Charles and Queen Camilla attended a private preview of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum in London, joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The tapestry, an 11th-century embroidered cloth depicting the Norman Conquest of 1066, returned to Britain for the first time in centuries for the display (The Independent; Town & Country).
Camilla's connection to the Royal Academy of Dance predates her patronage. In November 2022, as Queen Consort, she presented the academy's Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award at a ceremony in London (royal.uk).
The "Silver Swans" programme that brought Platt and Camilla together the first time offers ballet classes designed specifically for older learners, aimed at keeping people active and mobile as they age. Camilla has previously spoken in support of initiatives promoting physical activity in later life (royal.uk).
What makes the moment land is the setting. A woman who once took private dance lessons at her London home, now Queen, standing in the headquarters of one of the world's largest dance-teacher training organisations and joking about her own creakiness — with the teacher who trained her looking on.
