The Queen has joked about the King “toiling” long after she has gone to sleep as she praised the work ethic of women.

Camilla spoke about her husband’s diligence during a Commonwealth event in Samoa attended by leading domestic abuse campaigners from across the globe.

Camilla in white
Queen Camilla spoke about Charles’s diligence (Aaron Chown/PA)

The Pacific nation is hosting a major summit for Commonwealth leaders and the Queen told the conference’s women’s forum event the legend of the men and women tasked with thatching the roof of renowned Samoan chief Tautunu’s home.

“Although they started at the same time, the women finished their side first, as they had laboured through the night, while the men slept,” said the Queen.

She added: “As one whose husband is often toiling into the small hours, long after my head is on the pillow, I should stress there are plenty of exceptions!

“But the moral of the proverb is: Women will turn their hands successfully to any task that must be done; and will work hard until it is completed.”

A major part of Camilla’s public work involves her support for victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse and an ITV documentary about her work will be aired later this year.

The event was hosted by the Commonwealth’s Secretary General Baroness Scotland and the Queen told the audience, which met at a hotel: “As we gather to discuss our theme, Advocating for Women and Girls in the Commonwealth, we have a gigantic task ahead of us, for which we all – male and female – will need the same spirit that inspired those women thatchers.

“It is this: to end domestic and sexual violence across the Commonwealth, now and forever.”