Queen Camilla was overheard making a candid smoking comment after suffering from a chest infection.
The Queen, 77, is now on the mend after a nasty chest infection forced her to pull out of several engagements.
She missed Remembrance events last weekend due to being unwell but has returned to duties this week.
On Wednesday, Camilla met the stars of film and TV during a reception at Buckingham Palace alongside King Charles.
Queen Camilla makes candid smoking comment after chest infection
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During the event, Camilla had the opportunity to have a candid chat with Paddington actress Emily Mortimer.
The pair chatted animatedly about Emily’s mother Penelope, who Camilla knows personally.
The actress told her: “Penny sends her love.”
When the monarch enquired about how she was, the actress laughed and said: “Oh, she’s still smoking as much as ever.”
Queen Camilla pictured in 1997 holding a cigarette outside her home in Wiltshire
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Camilla laughed and said: “Oh she’s still on the fags?”
Emily asked Camilla: “Oh have you quit the fags?” to which the Queen replied: “Oh yes, I quit 20 years ago.”
The actress added: “Well done.”
Camilla has long had a reputation for being a smoker, as there are pictures of the Queen holding a cigarette in 1997 outside her home, Ray Mill House in Wiltshire.
Queen Camilla speaking to Emily Mortimer during the reception
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Penelope Mortimer holding a cigarette in 1963
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However, last month her son Tom Parker Bowles claimed this depiction of his mother was not true.
He told The Times: “Oh, you know she has that reputation of drinking gin and smoking?
“Never drunk a glass of gin in her life. Doesn’t smoke.”
Parker Bowles added: “My mother hardly drinks. Never seen her so much as tipsy.”