Camilla caught short on way to Uckfield funeral

Landlady Chris Azerkane didn’t know whether to curtsy or grab her Marigolds and start scrubbing as Camilla asked permission to use the ladies’.

Mrs Azerkane, 52, said: “I was stunned but I didn’t realise she was here at first. I was doing the washing up when I saw all these posh cars pulling into our car park.

“I went to the door to see what it was all about and they came in as I reached for the door handle. There were all these men in smart overcoats and then I saw her in the middle of them, Camilla, wearing a lovely midnight blue coat with a velvet collar.

“She spotted me and said ‘hello, we’ve just come down from Gloucester – do you think I could use your loo?’ “My legs just went to jelly. The ladies was in need of redecoration but, luckily, my cleaner had just been in and it was spotless.

“I said to the Duchess ‘yes, of course you can – but what are you doing here?”

The duchess went inside the Hare and Hounds in the village of Framfield near Uckfield, and explained she was attending the funeral of family friend Lady Mary Askew at the nearby church of St Thomas A Becket.

Mrs Azerkane and her husband Rafai, also 52, are now auctioning the toilet seat to raise money for the Royal Brompton and Kings College Hospitals in London where their 16-month-old grandson Omar is being treated for lung disease.

Mrs Azerkane will be sorry to see the royal seat go.

She said: “I used it after Camilla – I thought it was my only chance of being touched by royalty.”

Her husband is organising a sponsored motorbike ride from Sussex to Marrakech to raise more money for the hospitals.

She added: "My grandson's life was saved by them and especially by Professor Martin Elliott who operated on him."

Omar's mother Nadine, 24-year-old health and beauty therapist from Hailsham, said: "The biggest thank you in the world isn't big enough for them."

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