Queen Camilla had heartfelt words of wisdom for Hollywood star Richard E. Grant after his wife's death. Richard met Joan Washington when he was 26 and says the pair soon "fell in love". The actor says Joan was his first love.

However, dialect coach Joan died in September 2021, just eight months after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Richard, 67, has previously spoken about how King Charles visited Joan in the days before her death.

Richard and Joan are believed to have become friends with the King and Queen over 20 years ago. They attended the royal couple's wedding in 2005, reports Cambridgeshire Live.

Speaking on singer Lulu's Turning Point podcast, Richard revealed a poignant message the Queen had for him after Joan's death. He said: "I met Joan Washington at the Actors Centre and I fell in love.

"And it was the first time that I fell in love. And I thought, well, that's it. You have no control over that.

"It's falling, you are falling. And the safety net, the invisible safety net is love. And you know, we had that together for 38 years until she died. So I'm incredibly grateful for that."

Lulu remarked: "You are very lucky you had that experience. Even though devastating, you lost her. Better to have loved than lost."

To which Richard replied: "Oh my goodness, exactly as the Queen said."

In December, Richard revealed he was invited to the King's Christmas party at Clarence House. In a post on Instagram, he shared the news as well as recalling Joan's encounter with the-then Prince Charles.

Richard penned a touching post: "Shortly before my wife died, Prince Charles came to visit her, sat in our garden, held her hands and talked about Life as she contemplated her own death. Kindness, generosity, humour and compassion. Princely attributes fit for a King."

Reminiscing in a video, he reflected on attending the King's nuptials while strolling through London. He expressed: "My wife and I went to Charles and Camilla's wedding 19 years ago in 2005. I've known them for a long time but it's still a thrill to be invited to the Clarence House Christmas party."

In conversation with Lulu, Richard shared the sorrowful memory of his and Joan's daughter passing away during the filming of the 1987 comedy Withnail and I. Baby Tiffany tragically lived for just 30 minutes.

Articulating the heartache, Richard disclosed: "She was pregnant and in the last week of rehearsal, she went into labour prematurely at seven and a half months and our daughter was born. She only lived for half an hour because her lungs were too undeveloped."

He lamented, "If she was born now they would have been able to save her, but they couldn't then. So exactly at this turning point of having got this lead role and first movie ever in my life it was absolutely underpinned by this terrible tragedy that happened to us. But we now have a daughter... we're incredibly close."

Together, Richard and Joan had their daughter Olivia, and the actor also plays a stepfather role to Tom. During his chat with Lulu, he revealed his nightly ritual of penning letters to Joan, recounting his day's events.