| Obituary: Major Bruce Shand |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | |
| Monday, 12 June 2006 | |
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Page 2 of 5 As you can hear here, Camilla spoke proudly about her father's involvement in the battle of El Alamein when she made an emotional visit to the graves of his fallen comrades during her official tour of Egypt with Prince Charles in March 2006. Major Shand's wartime service was to end traumatically when he was shot and captured by enemy forces. Despite having fought so bravely for King and Country, he was destined to spend the rest of World War II incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp. On his return to London in 1945, Bruce became engaged to the love of his life, Rosemary Cubitt. The sister of Lord Ashcombe, Rosemary's family earned a huge fortune by building much of London's exclusive Belgravia. It is through Rosemary that Camilla famously enjoys links to another royal mistress, Alice Keppel, the lover of King Edward VII. Camilla's great-grandmother, something of a heroine of the Duchess, said of her role in the King's life: "My job is to curtsy and then jump into bed." 
On leaving the Army, Major Shand became a wine merchant and was appointed Vice Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex. |
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