Prince Charles and Camilla say Dame Barbara Windsor will be 'deeply missed'

Rebecca Taylor
·Royal Correspondent
Updated ·3-min read

Watch: Dame Barbara Windsor dies aged 83: Her life in pictures

Prince Charles and Camilla have paid tribute to Dame Barbara Windsor who died after a battle with Alzheimer’s.

The royal couple shared pictures of them with the actor, who was known for her role as Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders, and said she would be “deeply missed”.

The tribute read: “Dame Barbara Windsor - a great British actor and tireless charity campaigner who will be deeply missed.”

They also shared a picture of her collecting her honour.

Dame Barbara had revealed in 2018 that she had been living with Alzheimer’s disease since 2014.

She died at 8.35pm on Thursday at a London care home, her husband Scott Mitchell told the PA News agency.

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Mitchell said: “Her passing was from Alzheimer’s/dementia and Barbara eventually died peacefully and I spent the last seven days by her side.

“Myself, her family and friends will remember Barbara with love, a smile and affection for the many years of her love, fun, friendship and brightness she brought to all our lives and the entertainment she gave to so many thousands of others during her career.

“Barbara’s final weeks were typical of how she lived her life. Full of humour, drama and a fighting spirit until the end.

Camilla Parker Bowles (right) chats to actress Barbara Windsor during a reception at the Ritz Hotel in London. Mrs Barker Bowles, the long-term companion of the Prince of Wales, was carrying out her first public engagement as president of the National Osteoperosis Society. * and launching a guide to healthy living produced by the charity, which is dedicated to fighting the fragile bone disease. Mrs Parker Bowles wrote the forward for the palm-sized book, called 'A Skeleton Guide to a Healthy You, Vitamins and Minerals'.
Camilla, then-Parker Bowles (right) with Barbara Windsor during a reception at the Ritz Hotel in London in 2002. (PA)
The Duchess of Cornwall, Patron of The Big Lunch, presented The Big Lunch Community Awards. The awards celebrate five years of the Eden Project’s community initiative which encourages as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours once a year, in a simple act of community, friendship and fun, Clarence House, London SW1A 1BA. The Duchess of Cornwall met Sir Tim Smit (Co-Founder of the Eden Project and The Big Lunch) and celebrity Ambassador Barbara Windsor MBE LEFT TO RIGHT BACK ROW MARTIN SAWYER, EMMA KNIGHT, SRIHARI VALLABHAJOUSULA, JESS PHILLIPS AND PAUL KERRIGAN, FORNT ROW THE DUCHESS AND BARBARA WINDSOR AND HARRY PHILLIPS PICTURE: ARTHUR EDWARDS MBE
Camilla with Barbara Windsor at The Big Lunch Community Awards, which Dame Barbara was a celebrity ambassador of. (PA)

“It was not the ending that Barbara or anyone else living with this very cruel disease deserve. I will always be immensely proud of Barbara’s courage, dignity and generosity dealing with her own illness and still trying to help others by raising awareness for as long as she could.”

The actor was made a dame in the 2016 New Year’s Honours list for her services to charity and entertainment. She received the honour from the Queen.

Mcc0051700.DT News Rota. HRH The Duchess of Cornwall attends the Annual ICAP Charity Day in the City>pic Shows HRH The Duchess of Cornwall speaking to dealers closing some deals with Barbara Windsor
The Duchess of Cornwall manning phones with Dame Barbara Windsor in 2013 at the Annual ICAP Charity Day in the City. (PA)
Actress Barbara Windsor shares a joke with the Prince of Wales at a reception for Age Concern at Clarence House in London.
Barbara Windsor shares a joke with the Prince of Wales at a reception for Age Concern at Clarence House in London in 2007. (PA)

Dame Barbara and Camilla, who is 73, had appeared at many charity events together over the years, and gave their support to similar causes.

As far back as 2002, before Camilla married Prince Charles, they appeared at a reception at the Ritz Hotel in London for the National Osteoporosis Society, as it launched a guide to healthy living.

Just over a decade later, in 2013, they were manning the phone lines for the annual ICAP charity day, and they both supported the Big Lunch Community Awards in the same year.

Prince Charles met her at a reception for Age Concern in Clarence House in 2007.

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth visits the set of BBC soap opera Eastenders with actress Barbara Windsor, in London, Britain November 28, 2001. REUTERS/Fiona Hanson/POOL/File Photo
The Queen visiting the set of BBC soap opera Eastenders with Barbara Windsor, in London, in 2001. (Fiona Hanson/Reuters)
Television star Barbara Windsor is made a Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 22, 2016. She received her award for her services to charity and entertainment. See PA story ROYAL Investiture. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
Barbara Windsor is made a Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016. (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The tribute from the royal couple is something of a rarity, as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall don’t choose to honour everyone through their social media accounts.

They did pay tribute to Dame Vera Lynn when she died earlier this year.

Watch: Dame Barbara Windsor dies: Tributes pour in for Eastenders star

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