THE Duchess of Cornwall will receive an honorary doctorate for her work on a debilitating illness.

She will be handed the doctorate at the University of Southampton next week in recognition of her work on osteoporosis.

The Duchess, who made her first-ever solo royal visit to Southampton in 2005, lost both her mother and grandmother to the illness, and has been president of the National Osteoporosis Society since 2001.

The condition affects more than 300,000 people in the UK and causes bones to become fragile and weaken and more likely to break.

It can lead to fractures, especially in wrists, hips and vertebrae, as well as other arms and can cause death.

The Duchess joined the National Osteoporosis Society in 1994 after her mother's death, and became a patron in 1997.

She has also published a book, A Skeleton Guide to a Health You, Vitamins and Minerals, featuring advice on how women can protect themselves from the disease, and has taken part in several international conferences and events to raise awareness of it.

And in 2006 she launched the Big Bone walk campaign which raised more than £200,000 for the National Osteoporosis Society and has even appeared on popular programmes such as The Archers and Strictly Come Dancing to raise awareness.

She has already received several awards for her work in raising awareness and money to tackle the disease, and she will now be presented with an honorary doctorate on Thursday (Feb 11).

Experts at the university have long been at the forefront of the battle against the illness, and last year they announced that they had discovered a connection between the illness and coronary heart disease.

Using a cutting edge scanning technique, their research showed that both conditions could have similar causes.

A spokesman for the university said: "HRH The Duchess of Cornwall has shown inspiring leadership in supporting patients, researchers, policy-makers and health professionals engaged in the management of osteoporosis.

"As President of the National Osteoporosis Society, and a previous speaker for the International Osteoporosis Foundation, she has been a champion for all who work with, or suffer from, this debilitating disorder which leads to many thousands of fractures each year.

"The excellence of the clinical service and research programme led by Professor Cyrus Cooper at the University of Southampton would not have been possible without the encouragement and support that she has given."