Camilla suffering from tattoo trauma

Camilla shows off her newly-minted henna tattoo in Tanzania. Charles did not volunteer. (Getty)

Camilla was just trying to be an obliging guest when she agreed to get a henna tattoo on her hand during her tour of Tanzania last week.

Don't worry, she was told, the ink is not permanent. Should come off in a day or two.

That was Nov. 8. Ten days later and she is still trying to get the darn thing off.

"The less said about that the better," the Duchess of Cornwall exclaimed when asked about it during a reception at Buckingham Palace.

"I didn’t feel that I could refuse and it was rather beautiful but then, after I had it done, this lady put her hand on mine and splodged it everywhere.

"I just can’t get it off. I have tried scrubbing and everything…nailbrushes, you name it. I just don’t know what to do."

Camilla received her tattoo on a tour stop in Zanzibar, when she visited Old Fort.

Henna is a dye made from the leaves of the mignonette tree. The dye penetrates several layers of skin and it can take several weeks to naturally wear away. There are several homemade recipes to speed up the process, including rubbing natural oils or skin-lightening or teeth-whitening products onto the area.

On Friday, the tattoo was still clearly visible (right) while she attended an auditorium opening at Oxford and talked to actor Rowan Atkinson.

This isn't the first time Camilla has had a henna tattoo. A few weeks before the royal wedding in April, she had one applied to her hand during a tour of Morocco. In that case, she didn't have to make any awkward excuses to Will and Kate (though she was wearing gloves for much of the day).