Camilla Tominey – Favourite Things
Camilla Tominey is the Associate Editor of The Daily Telegraph, covering politics and the Royals, a Royal Expert for the American television network NBC and a regular commentator on the BBC, ITV, Channel 5, Sky News and Australia’s Channel 9. In 2016, she broke the news of Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan Markle and was nominated for Scoop of the Year at the British Press Awards.
These are a few of Camilla Tominey‘s favourite things.
Tennis
I recently joined a tennis club, and I have really enjoyed getting back into playing. I was always sporty at school but mostly played lacrosse which is not something you can easily continue into adult life. The great thing about tennis is you can get a great workout playing an hour of singles without even checking your watch. It’s not like going on a run, counting every painful second. The school mums and I have got into a game called triples with two teams of three competing against each other in the vein of a doubles match, except the scoring is first to 11 points. It’s a fun game to play when you’re all at different levels of ability. We’re often accidentally hitting each other with volleys and spend most of our time on the court in fits of giggles.
Eggs
Eggs have always been my favourite food. When I was little, my parents would take me to restaurants, and if I didn’t like anything on the menu, I’d ask for boiled eggs and soldiers. Usually, the kitchen complied, even in quite posh places. If my husband is out, then I’ll usually cook this for myself in his absence. My friends and family still take the mickey out of me, for one declaring that the egg is “the most versatile foodstuff on earth”. But it is, right? Name any other edible product that is so adaptable it can be served in both a fry up and a pavlova? I love eggs so much that I’ve got pictures dotted around the kitchen honouring these fragile oval heroes of the fridge (not that you should keep eggs in the fridge, mind).
Dustbusting
I’m what you might describe as a clean freak. People wrongly call it OCD – but that is a serious mental health condition, whereas my need to regularly wipe surfaces and hoover the kitchen floor is more a reflection of my “tidy house, tidy mind” mentality. I can neither concentrate nor relax when there is a mess around me. I genuinely find it gratifying when everything has been put away. My penchant for neatness even extends to my wardrobe, which is (quite tragically) colour coordinated. My need to maintain order stems from growing up in quite a chaotic household because my late mother was an alcoholic. I ended up taking over quite a lot of the housework, and I suppose that instinct to try to keep everything under control has never left me.
Laura Marling
Having never been able to sing or play an instrument well, I have so much respect for musicians. My husband plays the guitar and writes songs in his spare time, and has got the most amazing breadth of musical knowledge. He is always introducing me to brilliant new artists I’ve never heard of. Years ago, he played me a Laura Marling song, and I instantly fell in love with her folksy, ethereal music. I love the originality of her lyrics and her sound. She’s a bloody genius, and I could listen to her albums over and over again. Another record I’ve freebased in lockdown is Taylor Swift’s Folklore. Both seem to have an extraordinary ability to celebrate womanhood in song.
Driving
Anyone who has ever been my passenger will probably say I drive like a maniac, but as I like to remind them: there is no law against acceleration. I’m not some sort of Top Gear addicted petrolhead who swoons over Jeremy Clarkson, but I do love being in the driving seat. My Dad, a retired GP, has renovated classic cars in his spare time for years, and I think that’s given me an appreciation of motoring. I sometimes have to work late for Channel 9, the Australian network, which requires me to broadcast from a studio in west London. Although a drag to be working close to midnight (I provide royal commentary for their morning programme, The Today Show), I do enjoy driving home on a near-empty motorway, playing tunes at full blast.
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