Talk about kicking a person while they're down!

As Camilla recovers from the hysterectomy operation she underwent less than a week ago, she's waking up to a damning story this Sunday about an alleged 'demand' she made during her recent tour of the Gulf with Prince Charles.

The News of The World is claiming that the Duchess of Cornwall was disappointed to find that she'd forgotten a favourite pair of footwear which she'd planned to wear with a matching outfit for an engagement in Kuwait.

So upset, in fact, that the 'order' went out that the pair of heels must be delivered to the Duchess within 48 hours.

The paper claims that the pair of heels were despatched by special courier from the Prince of Wales' Highgrove home in Gloucestershire in England for the 3,000-mile journey to Kuwait City. All costs incurred were paid for by Prince Charles from his private Duchy of Cornwall income.

However, when the shoes finally arrived in the Gulf, aides were shocked to discover that the Duchess had changed her mind and the shoes went unworn.

Claims an unnamed royal aide: "Camilla had enough footwear for a month with her, but she wanted this particular pair. When they got there she changed her mind!"

Explaining why Prince Charles agreed to his wife's alleged request for the shoes, the aide continues: "If it makes her happy it makes Charles happy, so it had to be done. She isn't a fan of foreign tours so anything to make her more comfortable."

Reacting to what is an undoubtedly damning allegation, coming as it does just weeks after the Prince was hailed for his green credentials during a ceremony in New York, a representative of pressure group Plane Stupid condemns the royal couple for their environmentally-unfriendly behaviour.

According to spokesman Graham Thompson: "This was the epitome of an unnecessary flight. The duchess was reckless and selfish."

This isn't the first time the Prince in particular has been subjected to such criticism as this. Charles has been alleged to make similar such 'orders'.

It's previously been reported that the Prince, who is increasingly condemned as "extravagant", has been known to order a member of staff to embark on a round journey of hundreds of miles to retrieve a favourite item which has been left at one of the many royal homes throughout Britain.

However, this is the first such story to claim that a demand has resulted in a journey of thousands of miles across the oceans.

This is the second time this year that a royal flight has been the subject of negative headlines.

In January, there was extensive criticism and debate surrounding Charles's decision to fly to America for a fleeting two-day visit. The primary reason for the official trip to Philadelphia and New York was for the Prince to personally receive an environmental award from former Vice President Al Gore.

Although the News of The World undoubtedly has a long track record in breaking royal stories, the timing is a little interesting. This is the latest of several negative stories to have appeared in recent weeks concering members of the Wales family and their friends.

In January, the paper's Royal Editor, Clive Goodman, was sent to prison having pleaded guilty in the phones tapping scandal involving members of the Prince of Wales' household.

His conviction followed months of police investigations and court appearances, all of which were the result of initial concerns raised by Prince William.

The young royal alerted aides and security officials when he realised that information about his private life and movements, all of which was known to only a handful of people, was mysteriously appearing in Britain's biggest selling Sunday tabloid.

Prior to this weekend's highly uncomfortable reading for the royals and their aides, the News of The World — which is published by Rupert Murdoch's News International — recently ran a front page story relaying sensational details of an alleged sex scandal involving one of Charles and William's greatest friends, the Duke of Westminster.

The paper also recently (and some would say cruelly) exposed the use by Prince Harry and his girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, of the Facebook website which allowed the couple to communicate with each other despite living thousands of miles apart.

Although he continues to put on a cheery face in public, as this week during an official visit to East London (left), in private at least Prince Charles may be feeling more than a little concerned and disheartened at the recent run of negative headlines.

Unfortunately for the future King and his aides, such headlines look set to continue with tomorrow night's Channel Four investigation into the 'Meddling Prince'.....a man who, for the moment at least, appears unable to do little right in the eyes of the press.

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Name: jj	Comment: NoW not one of the UK's most reliable media sources. However, even if the story is true so what? He paid for everything out of his private income. It was not a private flight. It keeps people in jobs.

Name: shelley	Comment: Click Your Heels Together Three Times ! "There's no place like home"

Name: Susie

Comment: from the Mail:"Last night a spokesman for Clarence House confirmed that the shoes had been flown over. He said: "The Duchess did not ask for the shoes to be sent, but a member of staff did arrange for them to be flown over to her after they realised that they had forgotten to pack them. "They were not specially couriered, but were sent along with a number of items and paperwork as is often the case on royal tours." Whether you believe the News of the World or other papers, its interesting that a little snippet like this that makes this mountain out of a molehill really a non-issue was not included in the original "story". I guess its truly easier to believe the worst of somene than to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Name: Charlotte	Comment: But weren't the shoes flown via private plane? This in contrast to a courier service that carries hundreds of packages at once.

Name: vreston

Comment: Bottom line is - it's a nonstory unless used to support C&C's frivolity and that's not a valid example. Mass carriers are fairly inexpensive and work great in a pinch, especiall with corporate rates. It's a global economy. Now, flying a dog from India to Italy for each vet visit (Arun Nayar's ex-wife) and a gourmet chef from England to CA for a meal (some US rapper) - that would offend me.

Name: exploora

Comment: I think the issue was ===> the shoes were sent as a "special" order (what ever that means.) I suspect it wasn't Fedex or Puralator. And stangely my new shoes are still in the box, with their tags still on. I just dont want to get them dirty. Or see one of them fall apart like that again. Which is admittedly silly. Camilla may have had a reason why she didn't wear her shoes too. And of course anything between a woman and her shoes should be kept as a private matter.

Name: Mrs Coombs	Comment: This couple's extravagance and gall knows no bounds!!!

Name: Susie

Comment: It never fails to amaze me how some people take these "stories" as the absolute truth. You have a very vindictive lower than low tabloid as a news source and suddenly its gospel truth! Frankly, if one has the means to pay FEDEX rates who cares? I had a pair of shoes and an evening bag shipped to me in Hawaii for a wedding years ago from New York. Shock horrors! I shop online and have things courriered to me wherever in the world I am based. If some people could see beyond this "lets bash this couple for everything they do " syndrome, I think they would see that this is the reason why companies like FEDEX, DHL and other world couriers exist...they offer a service that makes forgetting shoes truly a non-issue.

Name: M-M	Comment: vreston Comment: I'm with Chris - did the same thing recently. This article made me feel better about it. _________________ Favorite shoes sent 3000 miles ? Wow !

Name: exploora

Comment: Well if Chris gets to be Duchess, I should get a title too, after sending only one shoe thousands of miles. Possibly the shoe clerk was told to send the other shoe thousands of miles to the manufacturers' head office too. I did get a new pair of shoes, sent back thousands of miles too. Possibly Charles knows better than to get between a woman and her favourite pair of shoes or boots. Of course there is always a better way. And we are a little spoilt. And life is short. And of course who am I to judge Camilla when what I did was possibly even more wasteful. And if it is possible that H and C are revealing a little too much on a publicly accessible resource,possibly after having a couple of drinks with their guard down and possibly others with worse intent than NofTW are able to read it too. So why isn't someone saying something to them? If Harry was hurt we would all feel bad. Why aren't Harry and his friends being more careful? Why would Harry and his friends go to the US shop meant for US personel, where UK tax is not included, when these UK taxes possibly help pay for public health care in the UK, and universal public health care is lacking in the US possibly due to lower taxes. Possibly because they are not thinking of all the possible consequences resulting from their actions. Harry is such a pretty boy and we would miss him if he was hurt,he is also an adult and needs to consider consequences once or even twice before he acts when he is out in the big cruel world, just like everyone else has to.

Name: vreston	Comment: I'm with Chris - did the same thing recently. This article made me feel better about it.

Name: Kate	Comment: I would think the story is about their wastefulness , coupled with selfishness. No matter what newspaper it came from, there has been no denial from CH, especially after the hullabaloo over his trip to the USA for a 2 day stint! Be sides - on a trip such as that, who would notice her shoes anyway with pants and saris on..

Name: Charlotte

Comment: The significance of it all is that Charles has touted himself as a Green Prince (or others I suppose). He has put his Camilla's happiness over the environment, what he stands for in regards to the environment, over his first wife and the family they had together, and over the stability of the monarchy. Is this what the monarchy will stand for if Charles becomes King?-Whatever makes Camilla happy? I say long live QEII.

Name: JS	Comment: Consider the source. A few years ago, in Scotland, I picked up a copy of News of the World since I had heard about it. Then I washed my hands. Not all "news"papers are created equal.

Name: Chris	Comment: WOW what a story! Even I once had a pair of shoes sent to me which I had forgotten at home. Works quite well, thanks to FedEx. Sorry, but I can't see any scandal about that! Does that mean I am fit to become a duchess?

Name: Jacqueline	Comment: Well so much for the Wales camp trying to be "Green". They really are a lot of selfish people.

Name: Monika	Comment: To quote the aide, "If it makes her happy it makes Charles happy, so it had to be done..." Interesting revelation. Unfortunately, it comes many years and one wife later.

Name: Trudie	Comment: Makes you wonder if the shoes were green.

Name: M-M	Comment: Well if this is not true it will be contradicted quickly by C/H . If it is true , it shows Camilla to be capricious and wasteful just like her husband .

Name: tina	Comment: Good lord this makes a slow news day look busy Some times I wonder what goes through these “journalists” heads as they write these “news articles” But this post shows what I love about The Royalist, the references to other articles (that kinda came out wrong) I had no clue about Harry and the whole face book fiasco till now

Name: Goldie	Comment: "reckless and selfish" are not exactly what it really is- which is thoughtless and wasteful. "If it makes her happy" what a pity he did not afford his first wife such sentiment.