Looking out the window Muriel MacIntyre waves to the postman who carries a letter addressed to her.
But it isn’t any ordinary letter, this envelope bears a royal “C” from the Queen Consort Camilla.
Grandmother and mum-of-three Muriel has been a secret pen pal of the Queen Consort, Camilla Rosemary Shand, for the last 15 years.
And now in the Sunday Mail she has exclusively shared the heartfelt personal letters the pair have exchanged.
Muriel, who was divorced in 1995 and remarried in 2003, first reached out to then Duchess of Cornwall and now Queen Consort, in 2007 over their shared experience of divorce.
The 83-year-old from Livingston, felt Camilla, 75, who divorced Andrew Parker-Bowles, a Guards officer in the Blues and Royals, in 1994 had been unfairly criticised.
Muriel sent her letter to Clarence House, the London residence of then Prince Charles, now King Charles III, and his wife, Camilla and was delighted when she received a reply.
In her letter, dated 13th September 2007, the Queen Consort thanked Muriel for taking the time and trouble to write to her.
She added: “Your kind words meant more than I can say.”
The pair have since remained in touch with Muriel updating Camilla on her childhood, health and her experience during lockdown.
Muriel, who thinks Charles and Camilla will be great in their new roles, said: “I had seen in the news that there had been a lot of talk about Camilla because she was divorced.
“I had also gone through a divorce so I thought, ‘I’m going to write to her.’
“I sent a letter telling her I’d also been divorced and it caused some upset but everything was fine now. And I said I appreciated all the hard work she was doing.
“I said it was plain to see how happy she made Charles and he looked the most upbeat he had been in years. Just seeing them together you can see they are always laughing and joking.
“She replied thanking me for taking the time to write to her and said my kind words meant more than she could say.
“She ended her letter saying ‘with heartfelt thanks and good wishes’ which I thought was very nice of her.
“So over the years I’ve written to her again and I’ve always received a reply.
“I said it was plain to see how happy she made Charles and he looked the most upbeat he had been in years. Just seeing them together you can see they are always laughing and joking.
“She replied thanking me for taking the time to write to her and said my kind words meant more than she could say.
“She ended her letter saying ‘with heartfelt thanks and good wishes’ which I thought was very nice of her.
“So over the years I’ve written to her again and I’ve always received a reply.
“During the pandemic, I wrote telling her about how I’d had to get my son to bring me another TV during lockdown so my husband Angus and I could watch what we wanted in separate rooms as we couldn’t always agree.
“She replied in September 2021 saying she was glad the two TVs had kept the peace between Angus.
“I think she liked my nonsense.
“I wrote to her in February 2016 and told her about my childhood and how I’d spent my early years in Singapore with my father who was in the RAF.
“And in one letter in 2019, I wrote telling her about my health and she replied saying she hoped my cold was a little better.
“I sent her a card on her birthday and she sent a nice photograph back thanking me and saying she couldn’t believe she had reached three quarters of a century.”
Muriel has also revealed she wrote to Queen Elizabeth in 2016 after a fall out with her husband Angus.
She said: “Angus has had a long military career and always referred to the Queen as ‘his Queen’ and I always corrected him saying it’s ‘our Queen.’
“It annoyed me one day so I wrote to the Queen and asked her to correct him.
“I received a lovely letter from the Queen’s Lady-in-waiting who told me the Queen couldn’t actually do that but was touched to know of his years of loyal service.
“I think that showed that the Queen had a wicked sense of humour.”
Muriel added: “I think Charles will make a wonderful king.
“With Camilla by his side I think he will do an excellent job of leading the UK.
“I think he will do his mother, our late Queen, and the country proud.”
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