Jenna Bush Hager has opened up about having dinner with Prince Charles the night before he became king. Charles III in the wake of the Queen‘death.
The Today presenter was in Ayrshire, Scotland last week to interview Camilla, the former Duchess of Cornwallwho is now the queen consort, about her online book club, The Reading Room.
Bush Hager, 40, was supposed to meet her on Wednesday before sitting down, but Charles ended up taking her place after her British Airways flight was delayed.
“It was a delicious meal,” he told Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin at the This day schedule on Monday morning. He first she said: “My dear wife was so sad [not to make it].’ and I love it [that].’
Jenna Bush Hager, 40, opened up about dinner she had with Prince Charles while reflecting on her visit to Scotland last week on the Today show on Monday.
The Today presenter was in Ayrshire to interview Camilla, the former Duchess of Cornwall, who is now Queen Consort (pictured with King Charles III on Monday)
Bush Hager said she turned to her husband, Henry Hager, who was also at dinner, and asked, “Will you call me ‘dear wife’ from now on?”
Charles also told her that Camilla “can’t wait to sit down with you tomorrow.”
“We had a wonderful evening full of conversations that felt joyous,” the former first daughter added.
Looking back at dinner, he believes Queen Elizabeth’s health concerns the next morning came as a “surprise” to the family.
Bush Hager, who had been planning the interview with Camilla for about a year, explained that she and her team were also caught off guard by the turn of events.
Bush Hager was supposed to have dinner with Camilla on Wednesday, the night before their meeting, but Charles took his place after their flight was delayed.
The former first daughter said they had a “wonderful evening full of conversation” and believes concerns about Queen Elizabeth’s health took the family by surprise.
“The next morning, we were setting up the interview,” he said. We were at her house. It’s called Dumfries House; in fact, they bought it, remade it, and then gave it to the people of Scotland.
“The interview was supposed to start around 2 or 2:30,” he continued. I was supposed to meet the now queen consort around 1:30. At 12:30 we heard some kind of running through the corridors.
They were preparing to film in the Dumfries House library when the royal crew came to speak to them.
“They came in and said, ‘Can you shut up? There’s a call,'” he recalled. “We were right next to the office of then Prince Charles,” now King Charles III. They said, “She’s on a call, can you shut up?” Then suddenly we hear a helicopter.
Bush Hager was then told that Camilla had to postpone the interview.
On Thursday, Bush Hager and his crew were preparing to film in the Dumfries House library when the royal crew came to talk to them.
“They said, ‘The queen is ill, and they have gone and run to be with her,'” he explained. ‘We just said our hearts go out to them’
“They said, ‘The queen is ill, and they have gone and run to be with her,'” he explained. “We just said our hearts go out to them.”
She admitted she was disappointed at the time because she was looking forward to talking about books with Camila, but it was surreal to be there at the time, saying, “It was living history.”
Bush Hager announced on the Today show on Thursday that the interview had been delayed while filming outside Dumfries House, just hours before the Queen’s death was announced.
“Our hearts go out not only to her family, but to all those who have loved this queen for decades and decades,” he said. ‘As you all know, she is a beloved figure. She has worked with 15 prime ministers. She has simply been the cornerstone of stability, not only for this country but for her family as well.”
“My heart breaks too,” he added. “In many ways, we see her as an incredible political figure, but she’s a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and she now has her family at her bedside.”
Bush Hager was filled with emotion when he revealed on the Today show on Thursday that his interview with Camilla had been postponed, just hours before the queen’s death.
Charles, the former Prince of Whales, was seen leaving Dumfries House and heading to Balmoral as he and his siblings ran to be by their mother’s last moments.
Bush Hager emphasized during the live segment that the royals have “full” schedules, and it’s incredibly rare for them to drop everything the way they did that day.
“Public mourning is something really difficult. The heart of the whole of the UK is breaking for this family,” she said. “I think a lot of times we see them as this institution, you know, as royalty, but because I spent time with Prince Charles, he is so much more. He is a man who, I am sure, is terribly hurt today.
The announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death was made just hours after Bush Hager’s interview was cancelled.
All children of Queen Elizabeth he had rushed to Balmoral to be with her on Thursday. Hours later she passed away, surrounded by her family. The monarch’s death was confirmed at 6:30pm UK time.
The queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral tonight and return to London tomorrow,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.
Britain and the Commonwealth realms entered a ten-day period of mourning after the Queen’s death, as millions of her subjects in the UK and abroad came to terms with her passing.
His coffin will be transferred to London on the royal train via Edinburgh before it remains in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament for four days. Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to pay their respects.
The state funeral is scheduled for Monday, September 19, at Westminster Abbey in central London.
His bereaved family will attend, as well as 2,000 heads of state, prime ministers, presidents, European royals and key public figures from around the world.
