Camilla to quit Royal tour because she 'dislikes heat'

Her decision to pull out mid-way through the 10 day tour of Japan, Brunei, and Indonesia will raise fresh questions about her commitment to her royal duties.

The 61-year-old Duchess of Cornwall, who was once described by senior royal aide Mark Bolland as "monumentally lazy", already undertakes fewer duties than most other senior royals.

On the couple's last overseas tour to the Caribbean in March she missed almost a quarter of the 44 engagements to spend more time relaxing or getting ready for dinner on a £50 million luxury yacht the couple hired.

In the first year after her April 2005 wedding to Charles, she carried out only 38 solo engagements - 20 fewer than the Queen Mother performed at the age of 92. Last year she undertook 201 official duties, compared to the Queen's 440 engagements at the age of 82.

Clarence House officials insisted that the Duchess, who had a hysterectomy last year and has looked uncomfortable in the heat on previous tours, is perfectly fit. They said she was just not up to the same robust programme her husband will undertake on the tour, which comes immediately before his 60th birthday in November.

A spokesman said: "Indonesia is an arduous environment - 35C and 90 per cent humidity and that is one of the considerations."

He added: "The programme when they get back to the UK is incredibly hectic. Remembrance weekend is three days after the Prince returns to Britain, followed by a week of celebrations for his 60th birthday. The Duchess needs time to catch her breath."

The couple, who will also travel to France for a ceremony to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War shortly afterwards, will undertake the expensive Far East tour at the request of Foreign Secretary David Miliband despite the growing credit crunch.

Charles will use the tour to reinforce his campaign to get world leaders to take urgent action to combat climate change and protect the globe's remaining rainforests, even though his own travels and those of his wife, who will return at the Prince's expense, will clock up a huge carbon footprint.

In January last year Mr Miliband, then the Environment Secretary, criticised the Prince for flying 7,000 miles on a round-trip to receive an environmental award in the United States and argued that he should have accepted the prize by video link.

Now, however, he is urging the Prince to travel to the Far East. "You can't raise awareness from your armchair. You have to travel around the world," the Clarence House spokesman added.

He said: "Clearly the trip takes place against the backdrop of considerable international turmoil. I just wanted to say the Prince and the Duchess are, of course, acutely conscious of the cost of these visits, but as ever they are more than ready to do their duty at the request of the Government.

"And despite - you could almost say because of the current economic situation - the Government has confirmed it wants this tour to go ahead given the importance of the strategic priorities which it is going to address."

The Foreign Office hopes the trip to each of the countries will boost trade and improve diplomatic ties between them and Britain. Charles and Camilla will visit Japan for four days from October 27, then travel on to Brunei for two days before the Prince journeys alone to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, for four days, returning on November 5.

In Brunei, the Charles and Camilla will visit a unit of the Royal Gurkha Rifles. Charles is their Colonel in Chief and the regiment hosted Prince Harry in Afghanistan at Christmas last year.

They will also meet the fabulously wealthy Sultan of Brunei and in Tokyo their hosts will be the Imperial Family, including Crown Princess Masako, whose battle with depression and the stultifying straightjacket of court life has prompted comparisons with Princess Diana.

Camilla will be following in the footsteps of her predecessor in Japan, where Diana received a rapturous reception when she accompanied Charles there in 1986.