The Duchess of Cornwall walks to work as she sees London life as lockdown lifts

The Duchess of Cornwall saw how the arts and business are getting back to business as lockdown continues to ease. And Camilla took advantage of the quieter streets of the capital as she walked to work in London.

The Duchess of Cornwall was seen strolling to engagements wearing a peacock patterned mask, matching her teal green dress.

Camilla called into the National Gallery which was closed for over 100 days during lockdown but which is now welcoming visitors again. The Duchess was given an overview of the changes that have been made to keep everyone as safe as possible as the pandemic continues. Still with her mask in place, she was shown the one way routes around the gallery, designed to help maintain social distancing. The gallery also has increased cleaning procedures now as well as hand sanitising stations throughout the building.

The royal visitor also came met a royal with a rather familiar name. Camilla was shown the ‘Equestrian Portrait of Charles I’ by Anthony van Dyck which has been undergoing restoration for several years but which is now back on display for visitors to enjoy.

As well as showing her support for the arts, the Duchess of Cornwall also saw the work going on in Britain’s High Streets. She headed to the Boots store in Piccadilly where, as well as hearing about how staff have been dealing with life over the past few months, she was given an update on the impact of a new initiative to support those affected by domestic violence.

Earlier this year, Hestia’s Safe Spaces programme for victims of domestic violence was set up at shops. The charity had noticed a big increase in use of its free domestic abuse reporting app and at the beginning of May, several Boots stores introduced the Safe Spaces scheme. It allows people to use their private consultation rooms to contact specialist domestic abuse support services for help.

Camilla heard about how the scheme is working and was also given an update on the Wash Bag initiative that she began and which is supported by the store. It supports women who have had to go through examinations after reporting abuse with wash bags.

The Duchess of Cornwall has made supporting people affected by domestic and sexual abuse a priority for many years.