Lakeport, Calif., businesswoman Nancy Ruzicka (left) meets Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in London on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, following a service at St. Bride's Church for journalists killed in conflicts around the world. Photo courtesy of Mark Moody, OK! Magazine social editor.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A well-known local businesswoman had the chance to meet a member of the British royal family in a special service last Wednesday that honored her daughter and British journalists who have died in war zones.

Nancy Ruzicka was in London last week, where she took part in a remembrance service for British journalists killed while covering wars around the world.

According to the United Kingdom's Daily Mail, the Wednesday service at London's St. Bride's Church – attended by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – included the reading of the names of 48 journalists killed in conflict zones worldwide.

Ruzicka's daughter, Marla, also was honored at the service, her mother said.

Marla Ruzicka was killed in April 2005 while working on humanitarian issues in Iraq.

While working in Afghanistan and Iraq, Marla Ruzicka was a colleague of British journalist Jon Swain of the Times of London, Nancy Ruzicka said.

Even though Marla Ruzicka wasn't a journalist, Swain had nominated her to be honored as part of the commemoration, Nancy Ruzicka explained.

Swain then invited Nancy Ruzicka to the London service. She said she traveled over to England from New York on the Queen Mary II to attend.

Marla Ruzicka was doing humanitarian work on behalf of civilians in Iraq when she died. Her small organization, Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict – CIVIC – didn't have much money, so the young woman knew that to get her message out she needed to rely on journalists, her mother explained.

“Marla worked closely with these journalists,” Nancy Ruzicka said.

A few days before the service, Nancy Ruzicka said she received an e-mail informing her that the Duchess of Cornwall wanted to have a personal meeting with her after the service.

Not recognizing Prince Charles' wife by her formal title, Ruzicka went to the concierge desk at her hotel and asked who was the Duchess of Cornwall.

“That's Camilla!” The young men at the concierge desk replied.

For the next few days, every time Ruzicka passed the desk, the young men asked brightly, “Have you met her yet?”

Nancy Ruzicka called the service – complete with a large choir – at St. Bride's Church “wonderful.”

After the service, Nancy Ruzicka had the chance to meet the duchess, an experience which she called “unbelievable.”

Nancy Ruzicka and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, talk as Rev. Canon David Meara, rector of St. Bride's Church in London, looks on. Ruzicka was invited to the service because her daughter, humanitarian activist Marla Ruzicka, was honored at a service at St. Bride's Church in London on Wednesday, November 10, 2010. Nancy Ruzicka said she had received a message informing her that Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wanted to meet her. Ruzicka said she had fun with the duchess.

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