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American Morning

Camilla Parker Bowles Attends Queen Mother's Funeral

Aired April 12, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It has been quite a week in Britain as the country said goodbye to its beloved Queen Mother. Conspicuous by her presence at the funeral was Prince Charles' girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles. Could the Queen Mother's death mean that Camilla's royal stock will now rise?

For that and more of what's happening over there, we turn to our pal, CNN's Richard Quest, who is live in our London bureau this morning -- happy Friday to you.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy Friday. You know, Jack, I never thought you were a man of great delicacy. Prince Charles' girlfriend, that's a nice, delicate way of putting it. But she has been...

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: Well, how -- wait a second. How would you describe her?

QUEST: Well, I suppose in previous times, she might have been called his mistress in previous days. There might have been other sort of references to her. The point about the current development is that she was at the Westminster Abbey during the funeral.

Now, admittedly, she was pushed to one side, and you couldn't really see her, and she couldn't really see the service. But the fact that she was there at all is considered to be of great importance, because what it -- even though the palace brushed it away saying she had been a friend of the Queen Mother for 30 years.

The truth is Camilla is now in Scotland with Prince Charles as they are going through the Queen Mother's effects. So what his is -- you've got to remember the palace is like the Kremlin. You have to look for shifts and changes, very subtle. They don't come out with major announcements. And what people are now saying is this might now make for a greater public role for Camilla Parker Bowles.

And one other thing, unconfirmed, I know that the U.S. scandal rags have had lots of reports that Camilla might actually be changing her appearance. She has often been unkindly described to various and sort of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) friends. But they are now saying that Camilla might being getting Botox injections and/or laser treatment and/or the... (CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: And you talk about the fact that I am not delicate. Listen to how you're going on.

QUEST: Hey, I am reporting. Look, you have this game that you call football.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

QUEST: Forget it. We are talking over here about the real game of football, what you call soccer. And this is big news. Now, you may find that rather disturbing and distressing at this time of the morning, but these are the feet of David Beckham. He is Manchester United's footballer, and he was fouled viciously early in the week. And as a result, may now be out of the World Cup. You may not care about this, but I can tell you that Beckham's feet is in just about every national newspaper in Britain at the moment and around the world.

And to make it even more interesting, it was an Argentinean that did it. Now, he has got millions for his feet. How much will you pay me if I take this sock off and show you it now?

CAFFERTY: Absolutely nothing, and I think the world can be grateful that it was his foot that was injured based on the coverage it's getting in the British press. We must move forward.

QUEST: Oh, delicacy.

CAFFERTY: Nice to see you. I'll talk to you next week -- Richard Quest in London.

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