Filthy rooms, floods and a failing infrastructure may have deterred athletes and spectators from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
But the Duchess of Cornwall has found the perfect way to prepare herself for the ordeal.
On Saturday she travels to Delhi for a four-day tour with Prince Charles, who is opening the Games on behalf of the Queen.
In the meantime, she will be pampered at a £1,140-a-night alternative health spa more than 1,000 miles from the tournament village.
Shading herself from the squalor and poverty of parts of India, Camilla is holed up with 15 friends and family in a luxury ‘wellness centre’ which offers leech therapy, nasal cleaning and anti-ageing ‘life management’ treatments.
Her 2,500 square foot presidential suite has three bedrooms, a private garden, a lotus pond and an open-air shower.
The Duchess, 63, flew to Bangalore, in South India, on a British Airways flight without her husband yesterday for four days at the Soukya Holistic Health Centre.
She is now purging the toxins from her body by eating ‘ovo-vegetarian’ food – with no dairy products except eggs – as part of a ‘sattvic’ diet, which means chewing small portions slowly in order to clear the mind. She is not allowed too much salt or spice.
One form of treatment, called panchakarma, sees guests at the centre use drugs to make them vomit, powders and oils to clear the nasal passages and leeches to get rid of toxins – although a royal source said Camilla was steering clear of the creatures.
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Other treatments on offer include yoga, acupuncture and naturopathy – using fruit, vegetables and magnets to heal the body.
But the Duchess of Cornwall has found the perfect way to prepare herself for the ordeal.
On Saturday she travels to Delhi for a four-day tour with Prince Charles, who is opening the Games on behalf of the Queen.
Well being: Soukya alternative health spa near Bangalore, India, where Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is believed to be staying while her husband Prince Charles opens the Commonwealth Games in Delhi on Saturday
Pool with a view: The spa costs £1,410 a night and is 1,000 miles from the athletes' village in Delhi
Detox: Camilla, pictured at the Battle of Britain service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, London, earlier this month
Shading herself from the squalor and poverty of parts of India, Camilla is holed up with 15 friends and family in a luxury ‘wellness centre’ which offers leech therapy, nasal cleaning and anti-ageing ‘life management’ treatments.
Her 2,500 square foot presidential suite has three bedrooms, a private garden, a lotus pond and an open-air shower.
The Duchess, 63, flew to Bangalore, in South India, on a British Airways flight without her husband yesterday for four days at the Soukya Holistic Health Centre.
She is now purging the toxins from her body by eating ‘ovo-vegetarian’ food – with no dairy products except eggs – as part of a ‘sattvic’ diet, which means chewing small portions slowly in order to clear the mind. She is not allowed too much salt or spice.
One form of treatment, called panchakarma, sees guests at the centre use drugs to make them vomit, powders and oils to clear the nasal passages and leeches to get rid of toxins – although a royal source said Camilla was steering clear of the creatures.
Enlarge
A labourer works in flood-water at the construction site of the hockey training stadium last week
Indian newspapers reported that security officers from Scotland Yard flew to the exclusive spa to carry out checks last week. They are now said to be stationed on the site.
No one from the Soukya Centre, which welcomed the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson in 1997, was available to comment last night.
But a spokesman told Indian reporters: ‘She is impressed by our facilities, including the holistic treatment for toning up her health.’
Prince Charles, 61, is renowned for his belief in alternative therapies. He is patron of the British Medical Holistic Association and founded the Prince of Wales Foundation for Integrated Health.
A Clarence House spokesman said: ‘The Duchess is spending time privately with friends and family before joining the Prince of Wales for their official engagements. The trip is funded privately.’
Charles and Camilla will meet the athletes and visit schools, environmental projects, business chiefs and army officials in the cities of Chandigarh and Jodhpur on the taxpayer-funded leg of their trip.
One is amused: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, Charles and Camilla, have a laugh at the Mey Highland games in Caithness last month
But a spokesman told Indian reporters: ‘She is impressed by our facilities, including the holistic treatment for toning up her health.’
Wash and go? The bathrooms at the Commonwealth Games athletes' village have been exposed as being in a particularly poor state
Danger: Exposed cables and huge holes in the building work can be seen in these pictures
A Clarence House spokesman said: ‘The Duchess is spending time privately with friends and family before joining the Prince of Wales for their official engagements. The trip is funded privately.’
Charles and Camilla will meet the athletes and visit schools, environmental projects, business chiefs and army officials in the cities of Chandigarh and Jodhpur on the taxpayer-funded leg of their trip.
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