Henry Winkler’s visit across the pond in 2023 was a trip to remember thanks to Queen Camilla.
“We were invited to Ascot, the royal races,” Winkler, 78, explained to People in an interview published on Monday, August 12. “You heard about it in My Fair Lady, you hear about it all through history, and we were invited.”
Winkler and his wife, Stacey Weitzman, were making a stop in England — as well as Ireland and Scotland — while promoting his 2023 memoir, Being Henry.
Winkler noted that King Charles III and Camilla, 77, “arrive[d] in an open carriage pulled by these incredible horses.” Afterward, they had a “three-course lunch,” where he received a request.
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“Then all of a sudden, a rumor or a buzz goes through the room: ‘The Queen wants to meet Henry.’ So we walk down onto the paddock onto the green, and all of a sudden, these 12 men in forest green cutaways march out,” he said. “She comes in white in the middle of them and walks up. I tip my hat, and I talk to her like she was my Aunt Liz.”
Winkler noted there was “no disconnect” and “no royalty,” adding, “There is just this lovely woman who knows about my children’s books, the Detective Duck series.”
The annual event features several horse races taking place at the Ascot Racecourse in England over a week long period. During each morning of the Royal Ascot, members of the royal family arrive in a procession with horse-drawn carriages.
For this year’s event in June, several royal family members made an appearance, including Charles, who was joined by Camilla on the opening day.
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The following day, however, Charles was notably absent. His son Prince William was photographed laughing with his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie as they rode in carriages on the second day. Camilla rode in a separate carriage.
Charles returned the next day and was seen greeting stepson Tom Parker Bowles between equestrian races. (Camila shares Tom and daughter Laura Lopes with her ex-husband, Andrew Parker Bowles.)
Charles’ appearance at the event came as he continued to undergo treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer. While he paused his public facing duties after confirming his diagnosis in February, he resumed them in April.
Despite Charles publicly sharing his cancer diagnosis, royal author Robert Jobson told U.K.’s The Independent earlier this month that Camilla didn’t want him “disclosing his condition.”
“The King overruled her,” he explained, while promoting his latest book, Catherine, Princess of Wales. “He felt it was a chance to take a lead and in doing so to encourage men experiencing similar symptoms to seek timely medical attention.”
Jobson noted that Charles was “lauded for doing so, with commentators saying he had ushered
in a new era of transparency in matters of health and the royal family.”
