Britain’s Duchess Camilla has spoken for the first time about the moment she was told her brother had died.
The 67-year-old royal – the wife of Prince Charles – received the heartbreaking news about Mark Shand’s passing "on a glorious early Spring day in Scotland."
In an article published in The Times newspaper, she said: "An anguished voice on the other end told me that something terrible had happened to my brother; my indestructible brother, Mark. Surely nothing could have happened to him? … My charismatic and sometimes infuriating brother, who had survived tsunamis, shipwrecks, poisoned arrows and even the fearsome Komodo dragons, was no longer with us."
Mr. Shand sadly passed away in April after he fell and smashed his head on the pavement in New York after attending an auction for The Elephant Family charity, which he co-founded in 2002.
Camilla then went on to talk about her brother’s passion for protecting Asian elephants, which began when he rescued Tara during a visit to India in 1988.
Speaking ahead of her sibling’s memorial service yesterday (11.09.14), she said: "They embarked on a thousand mile journey across the north of India and by its finale he was in love. This was the start of his life-long passion for India and his quest for the survival of the Indian Elephant.
She added: "They say that elephants never forget; Tara never forgot him and neither will we…"
Duchess Camilla recalls brother’s death
