Few can have failed to notice that Queen Camilla, who turned 79 earlier this week, appears to be getting younger with every passing year and now the woman who has helped her turn back the clock reveals the secrets of her youthful glow.
"I think she looks even more beautiful now than she did when I first met her," says Deborah Mitchell, who has been giving Camilla her famous "bee sting" facials for 20 years. "I'm not saying that's just down to me; it's down to her and how she looks after herself. But using the right skincare is always good."
Celebrity fans
Deborah's Heaven Skincare brand has attracted celebrity fans including Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kylie and Dannii Minogue, and her signature Bee Sting Facial, which uses her patented ABEETOXIN formula, made from bee venom, is hailed as a natural alternative to Botox because of its tightening, plumping and collagen-stimulating effects.
© Chris Jackson / Getty"It's the most relaxing facial you will ever have, even though it's bee venom," says Deborah, 60, who has a flagship salon in Shifnal, Shropshire, and travels to London to treat her VIP clients. "I cleanse the skin, then I use bee polish to get rid dead skin cells, so the skin looks really refreshed and renewed. I move the skin tissue, and even the skull, by millimetres, which tightens the face, and then the skincare will remove and pump out lines and create a chiselling effect underneath the jaw line, and down the neck.
"It's like going to have a Botox treatment but using bee venom. You can see an instant improvement, because the skin relaxes to save itself from the bee venom, and all the muscles and lines then relax. Unlike injectables, you can have it all over your face."
© Heaven SkincareIn between treatments, Camilla maintains her skin with Deborah's products, which include pots of venom mask categorised as silver, black and gold – the latter of which is sourced from Queen bees and retails at £370 a pot.
"An ounce of the gold venom costs £27,000 and I limit it to one pot per person," Deborah explains. "Because it's so strong, you don't have to use it as often. At Christmas, the Queen had a gold as a Christmas present from me.”"
"She looks more beautiful now than when I first met her"
Last year, Camilla granted Deborah, who first started making products on her kitchen stove more than 30 year ago, a coveted Royal Warrant, which followed the Coronation Medal she received in 2023.
How Camilla changed Deborah's life
Deborah has seen her brand transformed into a multi-million-pound business thanks to her association with Camilla, who first contacted her ahead of her 2005 wedding to Prince Charles, as he was at the time.
"I misheard and thought it was Clarins calling, because they had sent me some products, so I told them I had my own skincare products," she recalls with a laugh. "And they said that no, that it was Clarence House calling to say that Camilla would like a treatment with me. And that was the start of a long relationship with her.
"Everyone wanted bee venom overnight and money started flowing in. Suddenly I was getting orders for half a million pounds, which I invested back in the business.
"In all the years I've spent with her now, she's been absolutely incredible. I had no expectations that she was going to be as lovely as she was. She always asks about my family, and I can never wait to see her."
© FilmMagicMeanwhile Victoria Beckham was already a fan, having left a message on Deborah's answerphone back in 2000, telling her how her Age Defiance cream had improved her skin. Kylie and Dannii followed.
"Victoria was so lovely to me, and that developed a relationship later on," she says. "She has her own skincare range now, so she doesn't use mine anymore. Kylie's favourite product was the orange flower hydrogel, and whenever Dannii is in the country she comes to see me too."
Deborah says the idea for using bee venom came to her in her sleep as she contemplated how to smooth out a line between her eyebrows without having Botox.
"My sister was keeping bees at the time, and information goes into your head, and gets remixed when you sleep," says Deborah, who lives in Shropshire with husband Chris, who runs a meat processing plant. "When I woke up, I thought, 'I know.'"
© WireImage via Getty ImagesThe bee venom is collected when bees sting glass in hives, so they are not harmed and Deborah's patented formula, made in her manufacturing plant in Telford, can be used by those with bee allergies, while there is a Nettle Venom alternative for vegans.
She reveals that when she's formulating new products, some of her customers agree to be guinea pigs.
"I say, 'Do you fancy trying a pot of this? I can't tell you which one... but certain customers are very helpful," she adds, with a knowing smile.
