Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has surprised a trio of siblings who were held hostage and robbed of their life savings.
The 70-year-old royal organised a surprise tea for Alice, 83, Mary, 88, and George Dowling, 89, as a reward for their bravery after they were targeted by masked thugs in their home twice in a week and robbed of £1,400 – which was made up of their pensions, life savings and money they were planning to donate to charity.
Camilla invited the siblings to Clarence House for tea, sandwiches and a chat, after police officers at their local police station in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, were left so in awe of their courage during the ordeal that they raised £700 to help compensate them.
Speaking about her meeting with Camilla, Mary told the Daily Express newspaper: "We wanted to meet Camilla because she seemed the most down-to-earth. She didn’t disappoint. She was so gracious.
"She said she was sorry to hear about what we went through and that she was glad that we had not been seriously hurt. She was lovely. She was exactly how we hoped she would be – a very classy lady, with no airs and graces.
"She said she just wanted to do something special for us after what we had been through."
Alice, meanwhile, described the Duchess as a "fine lady" with a "lovely sense of humour".
Tweets posted to the Clarence House Twitter account detailed how the police wrote to Camilla to ask her to meet with the siblings, as they were aware of her work as patron of The Silver Line, which is a charity helpline for older people.
The tweets read: "It was lovely to welcome Alice, Mary and George Dowling for a special tea hosted by The Duchess of Cornwall.
"@metpoliceUK wrote to HRH after the siblings fell victim to two robberies in their home within one week.
"The officers were aware of The Duchess’s patronage of @TheSilverLineUK, a helpline for older people, and wrote to HRH who invited Alice, Mary and George for sandwiches and tea at Clarence House. (sic)"
Duchess Camilla meets with robbery victims
