Camilla: I’ll put Prince Philip’s motto into practice when I’m Queen Consort

The Duchess of Cornwall has vowed to emulate the Duke of Edinburgh as her royal role model, saying she intends to follow his motto to “look up and look out, say less, do more”.

The Duchess, who will one day be known as Queen Consort on the expressed wishes of Her Majesty, paid a touching tribute to the Queen and her late husband during a lunch to celebrate her 75th birthday.

Addressing a room of celebrities and  “national treasures” of a certain age, invited to lunch hosted by The Oldie magazine, the Duchess called her parents-in-law “two of the most remarkable people in our country’s history”.

“The Duke of Edinburgh’s philosophy was clear: ‘Look up and look out, say less, do more – and get on with the job’ - and that is just what I intend to do,” she said.

“Both he and Her Majesty have always been the very touchstone of what it truly means to ‘get on with the job’, and an inspiration to each one of us here to do the same, whatever our age.”

Perhaps channelling the humour of the late Prince Philip, the Duchess introduced her speech with what appeared to be a gentle poke at modern sensibilities, telling her amused audience: “Ladies and gentlemen, if I’m allowed to call you that, good afternoon.”

Clarence House said it was up to others to interpret her remark but aides suggested it was in keeping with the “irreverent spirit” of the lunch, hosted by her friend Gyles Brandreth.

At the National Liberal Club in London, she was feted by actors, artists, writers and celebrities all in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, with 84-year-old Roger McGough reading a poem, The Living Proof, he had written for the Duchess’s birthday.

It suggested she take life gently after reaching the milestone, when “the perfect day can be as ordinary as a stroll by the river, as simple as the absence of bad news”.

The guest list included Lord Lloyd-Webber, Nigel Havers, Lord [Michael] Dobbs, Dame Joanna Lumley, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Tom Courtenay, model Twiggy, Felicity Kendal, Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, Sir Michael Morpurgo, Dame Penelope Keith, Lord [Rowan] Williams, Sir Trevor McDonald and Lucia Santa Cruz, the Chilean historian who introduced Prince Charles to Camilla back in 1971.

To laughter, Brandreth told the guests: “You sweetly thought you were here because of who you are. You are here because of how old you are.”

The Duchess’s son, Tom Parker Bowles and her eldest grandchild, Lola, 15, wheeled in an Earl Grey tea and dark chocolate truffle birthday cake decorated with her coat of arms, her Jack Russells, Bluebell and Beth, her racing colours, and her beloved books.

Of her birthday, which is on Sunday, the Duchess insisted: “You might not believe it, but I have actually been trying to keep quiet about reaching three quarters of a century – and, as you see, have failed dismally.”

She has guest-edited a special issue of Country Life to mark the occasion, writing a love letter to Britain’s countryside and choosing favourite recipes, works of art, views and causes for its pages.

Writing of her countryside “heroes”, she chose her husband the Prince of Wales, promising he would be a “champion and public voice” for rural Britain.

“My husband is a countryman to his very core. It’s the place where he is most happy and relaxed, an integral part of his heart and soul,” Camilla wrote, describing the future king as “fluent in the rural tongue” with a “deep and enduring love for all things bucolically British”.

The issue also saw the Duchess warn of the “darker side” of life in rural Britain, including crime, suicide, and domestic abuse in isolated areas.

“This idyll sadly has a darker side,” she said.

In an interview with Philip Treacy, the milliner revealed how the hat he created for the Duchess’s wedding to Prince Charles was secretly intended to look like a feathered “crown”, inspired by her Windsor Castle surroundings and official role in the Royal Family.

The special royal guest-edited issue of Country Life by the Duchess is published on Wednesday, July 13.