# Let’s name an airport after Queen Camilla **By:** Michael Ellis **Published:** 2026-08-31T10:49Z **Source:** [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/31/queen-camillas-positive-impact-on-the-nation) --- Just like Dolly Parton in America, her positive impact on Britain deserves recognition The Queen’s popularity has increased dramatically over the last 20 years, thanks to her down-to-earth nature and hard work Credit: Richard Sellers/PA What do the return of the Sussexes, Dolly Parton, the late Norwegian King, and even the Government’s plan for the early release of prisoners all have in common with Queen Camilla? Anyone exploring these extraordinary links cannot fail to recognise the importance of the Queen’s role in British public life, and indeed the British Constitution. When it comes to the Sussexes we all know the history. Prince Harry, when doing his media rounds in the United States for the release of his book Spare, referred to Camilla as “dangerous” and “a villain”. Last week’s return of the Duke and Duchess puts further pressure on the Royal family. Security decisions, court hearings, family occasions. All in the full glare of a media frenzy. But how the King copes with that pressure, including the absence of his grandchildren during their earliest years, whilst also battling cancer, is, to a significant degree, down to the comfort and support Camilla gives him. She spoke movingly last week about how she had been told of the King’s cancer diagnosis and had to say nothing about it when on a long-planned visit to a hospital in London. The importance of a supportive consort for the Sovereign can be seen throughout history. Queen Victoria famously mourned Prince Albert for 40 years. The Queen Mother was the only person said to be able to calm King George VI. Prince Phillip was the sun, moon and stars to the late Queen Elizabeth II. And to the current King it is clear Queen Camilla fills that role. The King and Queen have shown themselves to be deeply supportive of one another Credit: Aaron Chown/Reuters When it goes wrong it can be messy. The marriage of King George IV and Queen Caroline of Brunswick, was a car crash. Parliament wouldn’t let him divorce her and in 1821 she arrived back in London unexpectedly from her self-imposed exile. Queen Camilla’s popularity has massively increased over the last 20 years; she is down to earth and hard working. There is a gentle connection too between Camilla and the late King Harald V of Norway who died last week, aged 89. Harald courted controversy in 1968 because he insisted on marrying the woman he loved. His father, King Olav, originally forbade a marriage to Queen Sonia because she was a commoner. Harald eventually made it clear to his father that if he was not permitted to marry her he wouldn’t marry anyone at all, and the family line would die out. The King relented and Harald’s death last week leaves behind the Dowager Queen Sonia after 58 years of happy marriage. Like Queen Sonia, Queen Camilla has proved that her marriage in 2005 to our King when he was Prince of Wales was the right thing. But the Queen’s role is not just about supporting her husband with love and affection. It is her own agenda that makes a difference too. Last week more than 100 charities and organisations wrote a letter to the Government complaining that the early release of prisoners would include those convicted of violence against women and girls. Needless to say the Queen was not amongst the signatories, that would have been improper. But Camilla has long fought valiantly on this subject. In the House of Commons as a minister at the despatch box I recall the cross-party support for her work on this important subject. Talking of cross-party support, what about the late great Dolly Parton whose death last week sparked tributes from Left and Right, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton alike? What on earth is the connection between Camilla and Dolly Parton? Well, Dolly was not just a great singer, she was a towering philanthropist. Growing up in abject poverty, Dolly had an illiterate father. So she set up a charity to help literacy. Dolly Parton and Camilla have long shared a passion for cultivating reading Credit: Katherine Bomboy/NBC/Getty Today her “Imagination Library” sends children around the world, including the UK, a free book every month from birth until they turn five. More than 300 million books have been sent to such children in the last 30 years. And the Queen has a very similar passion in cultivating a love of reading. Her own charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, donates a book to every Year 6 child in the country and the Queen is also patron of several literacy charities, including BookTrust, the National Literacy Trust and Coram Beanstalk. So, in the varied cycle of news over one week in August, it is possible to draw wide-ranging links with Camilla and so much of what is happening in the world. Isn’t that the best indication anyone could ask for of the positive impact the Queen has on the life of the nation? Queen Elizabeth II clearly recognised Camilla’s success. In her final year she awarded the then Duchess of Cornwall the Order of the Garter, the nation’s highest honour, and also made clear that Camilla would be Queen when King Charles ascended to the throne. Bill Lee, the governor of Tennessee, Parton’s home state, has announced that Nashville International Airport is going to be renamed after the singer as a lasting tribute. In due course I am confident similar recognition will follow for Queen Camilla.