King Charles and Queen Camilla looked delighted as they kicked off their first garden party of the season today. 

The monarch, 76, looked dapper in his grey and baby blue three-piece suit as he looked out over thousands of people who arrived for the event at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday afternoon. 

Queen Camilla, 77, looked typically elegant in a rich satin blue and white lace dress, complete with a stylish wide-brimmed hat and sensible kitten heels.  

The pair beamed as they walked around the picturesque gardens, chatting and greeting their many guests who were all dressed up for the elegant occasion. 

The king seemed unfazed by the Duke of Sussex’s interview with the BBC last Friday, in which he claimed that Charles ‘won’t speak to me because of this security stuff’ and alluded to the King’s health by saying ‘I don’t know how much longer my father has left’.

Harry, 40, went to court hoping to change the decision to give him downgraded security after Megxit – however, he lost the case and claimed it was an ‘establishment stitch-up’. The ruling has prevented him from getting automatic taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK. 

Speaking about the king, the father-of-two also said ‘I don’t know how long he [my father] has left,’ along with claiming that some members of the Royal Family ‘may never forgive me for writing a book’. Harry also added that there have been ‘many disagreements’ between himself and some members of the Firm.

Nonetheless, King Charles and Queen Camilla remained committed to their roles as senior working royals and continued carrying out their duties without responding to Harry’s emotional interview.  

However, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson replied to Harry’s bombshell claims last week and said: ‘All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.’ 

On Wednesday, Charles and Camilla were joined by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh for the event, who have upped their presence in the royal fold since Harry and Meghan left the UK for sunny Montecito.

The Queen patted a guide dog, saying she was ‘honoured’ to meet him, as she and the King hosted thousands of guests at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party.

Camilla, in a teal blue crepe dress with a cream lace insert by Christian Dior, matching hat by Philip Treacy and turquoise and diamond brooch that belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth, bent down to tickle Haworth’s tummy after spotting him in the crowd.

‘I’ve had him seven years, he’s my fifth guide dog, but he’s the first one to meet the Queen,’ said his owner Jeanette Binns, an equalities and cohesion officer at Lancashire County Council.

‘Well I’m very honoured to meet him,’ replied the Queen, smiling.

‘He did pile it on a bit,’ Jeanette said of Haworth afterwards. ‘He knows how to impress. I’ve always said he’s an attention seeker, he’s gone up a notch with this.’

The Queen also commented on a striking pair of My Little Pony shoes worn by China Morgan, yard manager at Ebony Horse Club in Brixton, South London.

‘Oh look at that, very cool,’ said Camilla, who is President of the charity.

Sid Holdsworth, the charity’s COO said: ‘It’s really exciting to be here, we are extremely grateful for the invitation. The Queen is a very supportive President.’

Their Majesties were joined by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester for the first of four Garden Parties taking place at the Palace this summer.

King’s Foundation and CHANEL Millinery Student Jessica Turley has designed a pillbox style hat in sinamay for The Duchess of Gloucester.

Jess is a student on The King’s Foundation and CHANEL Millinery Fellowship in partnership with Le19M, based at Highgrove Gardens.

The King’s Foundation is a charity founded by His Majesty and works to build sustainable communities and transform lives, including through teaching traditional heritage skills at risk of being lost, such as millinery.

The King, who wore a cornflower in his buttonhole and a blue tie, stopped to chat to the Venerable James Ridge, who was appointed as a Chaplain to the King in January, and the Reverend Ruth Ridge.

He also spoke to Messenger Sergeant Major William Tuffs, of the King’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, who is retiring after a 56 year military career.

‘I joined the Coldstream Guards in 1969 aged 15 and have been in the Body Guard for 28 years,’ he said after meeting the monarch.

During his time as a Beefeater, William participated in the funerals of the Queen Mother, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, as well as King’s Coronation.

Yeomen of the Guard also provide symbolic security at events such as Garden Parties.

‘It’s fantastic, it’s such a pleasure to work at a garden party because people here are enjoying themselves,’ William said.

‘The King was saying about the many years I have served the Crown. He said ‘enjoy your retirement’.’

William, who attended with wife Ceri, also served with the Territorial Army and Bedfordshire Police and now volunteers as a lifeguard at the swimming pool at Keech Hospice Care in Luton, Beds.

Guests enjoyed a selection of cakes and sandwiches with their tea, followed by ice cream. They were entertained by bands from the Welsh Guards and the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre, who played familiar tunes from shows including Oliver! Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar and Phantom of the Opera.

Up to 8,000 guests attend each Garden Party, drinking on average more than 27,000 cups of tea and tucking into 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 cakes.

Guests come from all walks of life, with many wearing uniform or national dress instead of suits and dresses.

Elsewhere, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie opted for a monochrome look, wearing a black and white floral patterned frock along with a matching fascinator, whereas Edward looked smart in his three-piece suit complete with a black top hat.

And Princess Anne was also in attendance, sporting a chic metallic sky blue ensemble consisting of an overcoat and sapphire blue gloves. 

The King was also introduced to a group of social media content creators, including swimwear model and ‘cancer thriver’ Kelly Crump and her partner Edward and gardening influencers Martha Swales and Joe Clark.

Elsewhere Princess Anne was amused by photographs of ‘Mr and Mrs Ovary’, friends Craig McMurrough, 54, and Sarah Temple, 49, who take part in marathons across the UK and overseas dressed as giant ovaries.

‘Do you run around like that?’ asked Anne, laughing. ‘Good of you not to turn up like that.’

The friends have raised more than £100,000 for the charity Ovacome, which supports women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, since Craig’s sister Cheryl Earnshaw, a mother of two, sadly lost her life to the disease aged 43 in 2016.

He said after meeting the Princess, ‘She couldn’t believe we run in those outfits and she said ‘you won’t get me running a marathon’.’

Earlier on Wednesday, Charles undertook a royal first on Wednesday – hopping on a hybrid Thames Clippers ‘Uber boat’ for his commute to work.

His Majesty looked delighted with the variation from his State Bentley on a sunny, although slightly gusty, day in London with the famous skyline including the Houses of Parliament behind him. He arrived on the floating pier at Westminster with minimal fanfare, where he undertook a short meet and greet with executives accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of London, Sir Kenneth Olisa.

‘Am I going to get into the right boat? There are so many to choose from,’ Charles joked, as he walked past another full of commuters and tourists just departing.

On board the battery-powered ‘Mars Clipper’ he was introduced to employees and apprentices during his ten minute journey to the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.

On route, he learnt more about the positive impact the hybrid vessel – one of three in the fleet – has on London’s water artery.

Uber Boats serves 24 piers across the capital in 10-20 minute intervals and Thames Clippers has been heavily investing in hybrid and hydrogen-powered vessels.

‘It’s a nice way [to travel],’ said the monarch, admiringly.

‘Is this just one of a number of these vessels?’ 

Smoothing his hair and admiring the view as they powered along the water, the King chatted enthusiastically about the new technology that powered the fleet.

As it pulled into dock he remarked: ‘Fantastic,’ and then, spotting Sir Ken disembarking with him dressed in his full formal finery he said: ‘Take care your spurs don’t caught in that!’

The second part of his visit took him to the Thames Tideway Tunnel project – known as London’s ‘super sewer’ – at Bazalgette Embankment.

Following ten years of construction the 25km-long sewer has now been switched on to protect the River Thames and was officially opened by the king.

The new system can store the equivalent of 640 Olympic swimming pools of sewage and has already captured more than six million tonnes of storm sewage since February.

The original Victorian system was designed for a population of just four million and while still in workable condition, has struggled to cope with population growth and rainfall caused by climate change.

Accompanied by the Secretary of State for Environment, Steve Reed, Charles toured the site and viewed a live tracker displaying the tonnage of sewage taken by the tunnel.

‘Are you going to finish it and then do something else?’ asked the King. 

He also met with some of the 25,000-strong construction workforce who have been involved in the project, which is still ongoing.

He patted one man on the arm as he told him his family was back in India. ‘They are all well, I hope? he asked.

‘Have you got the crane?’ he asked another.

The King also walked through a ‘mini park’ planted for the local community and visitors including 71 trees and 3,000 plants.

Standing by several giant ventilation funnels for the sewer inscribed with poetry, Charles viewed the vista admiringly.

Andy Mitchell, CEO of sewer builders Tideway, then invited him to unveil a plaque commemorating his visit.

He said: ‘It’s taken over ten years of work from an awful lot of people to get where we are now. It’s a huge feat of engineering, something we are very proud of. We have created a lot jobs, new spaces and a cleaner river along the way. We hope what we have done here will show to others what can be done.’

Afterwards he added: ‘The king was fascinated with detail and the quality of the space, as well as the humanity of it with all the planting. The team were absolutely thrilled with his comments on the quality of the work here. In an average year there are 40 million tonnes [of sewage] and we will be preventing the vast majority of that from going into the river.’

Charles greeted poet Dorothea Smartt, whose poetry about the Thames is printed on the ventilation columns on the new tunnel. 

The King is known for his love of nature and passion for bringing about conversations about climate change, first speaking about the dangerous effects of plastic pollution on the environment when he was 21 years old in 1970. 

In 2023, he famously said that the ‘world does not belong to us’ at Cop28 in Dubai, adding that his grandchildren, Prince Louis, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie would be living with the effects of our warming planet. 

Tideway say that everyone it rains, its high-tech computers calculate how much sewage is filling the tunnel network instead of spilling into the river. 

This month, the new super sewer was connected to the Lee Tunnel, which has been operation since 2016 and runs from Stratford to East Ham, completing the full London Tideway Tunnel network. 

The new tunnel will protect the Thames from sewage pollution, with Tideway data showing that a whopping 6,790,231 cubic meters of dirty water has been diverted away from the river since August 2024. 

This visit comes after Charles attended the world premiere of Sir David Attenborough’s new documentary – Ocean – on Tuesday evening.

The royal, 76, was suited and booted for the special event and looked dapper in his black tux as he stepped out at the Royal Festival Hall in London. 

Charles was seen greeting people and waving at wellwishers as he made his way down the blue carpet.

The monarch also beamed as he spoke with Sir David while the pair posed for pictures together. 

The legendary environmental broadcaster, 98, has his latest documentary which releases on his 99th birthday on Thursday.

The King and Sir David are thought to have a close relationship, as the presenter was also good friends with his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.