King Charles and Queen Camilla appeared relaxed and in high spirits as they stepped out for one of their last royal engagements before the summer pause.
The royal couple returned to Norfolk for their customary visit to the Sandringham Flower Show, a much-loved fixture on the Sandringham estate that has been part of the royal calendar for nearly 150 years.
This year’s show marked a notable first, with the Royal Horticultural Society taking charge of the event for the first time. The King serves as patron of the RHS.
The occasion also featured a new “RHS Legacy Garden,” created with the monarch’s input and built using materials sourced from Norfolk. The garden reflects King Charles’s lifelong enthusiasm for horticulture while spotlighting biodiversity, rural craftsmanship and traditional countryside skills.
Their Majesties made a suitably regal entrance, arriving by horse-drawn Victoria Carriage through the Old Norwich Gates towards the main house as crowds greeted them with cheers.
After the national anthem was played, the King and Queen quickly began greeting well-wishers, shaking the first of many hands as they were escorted around the show by RHS president Keith Weed and director general Clare Matterson.
King Charles, who had joined Queen Camilla for a private preview the previous evening, appeared especially pleased to meet garden collaborator Catherine Macdonald and view the completed design, which carried a distinctly Norfolk country character.
Throughout the visit, the couple repeatedly paused along the route to speak with members of the public, with thousands gathering for the chance to see the King and Queen up close.
The couple were on their traditional pilgrimage to the Sandringham Flower Show, an event that has been held on the royal estate in Norfolk for almost 150 years
Their Majesties arrived on the horse-drawn Victoria Carriage throughout the Old Norwich Gates to the main house to cheers from the crowds
Their Majesties shook hands with excited members of the public while Camilla was met with a rather excited furry friend who was keen to embrace the Queen
‘Are you all mad keen gardeners?’ His Majesty asked.
‘I’m the same age as you,’ one well-wisher told him. ‘You are looking good!’
‘It gets much harder doesn’t it?’ Charles, dressed in a summer beige suit and brogues, laughed.
He also beamed when another fan told him: ‘You look so like your mum.’
Camilla, 79, sporting a pretty new £245 green Lexy London dress and a large plaster on her right thumb, asked another: ‘Are you enjoying yourself? There’s a lot to see.’
She was given a gift of a bag of citronella-based insect repellents by The Oil Hut, which might have come in useful earlier when her husband was forced to swat away a flying pest.
The sovereign was invited to present a new ‘The Kings Biodiversity Award’ to Sophie Goldber who has designed the ‘Mindful Chef’s Gathering’ inspired by a traditional orchard redesigned for a smaller garden.
He also gave an award for The Best Exhibit in the Floral Marquee Award to family-run business Roaleyn Fuschias from North Wales.
Meanwhile Her Majesty presented The Queen’s Choice of Upcycled Containers Award to the Whissonsett & District Horticultural Society and Gardening Club, with a special award to Ingoldisthorpe Church of England Primary School for their appropriately-named ‘The Queen Bee’ design featuring a ‘majestic queen bee planter symbolising leadership’.
Camilla, 79, sporting a pretty new £245 green Lexy London dress and a large plaster on her right thumb, asked another: ‘Are you enjoying yourself? There’s a lot to see’
Featuring floral displays, garden designs, demonstrators from lead gardeners and horticulatural experts, the first day of the event is set to explore the role of sustainability and wildlife-friendly gardening
She told them: ‘Very well done. It is such fun. ‘
The King also stopped to speak to a group of children from Weeting Primary School in Brandon saying: ‘Have you got a garden here? Have you been very busy at school? Do you grow any vegetables? Do you eat them? Have you tried any spinach – it’s the best thing on the world. Have a very nice holidays. You must be on holidays now? These poor exhausted teachers!’
Meanwhile the queen examined a large purple knitted radish with an impish smile on her face. ‘Thank you very much indeed, it’s very kind,’ she beamed.
She also chatted to a girl from Brighton who told her that she had been a member of the Pony Club at Plumpton , Sussex, where she herself grew up. ‘So was I!’ she trilled.
The couple departed in their horse and carriage but not before shaking several dozen more hands.
They have one more official engagement before departing for Scotland for the summer.
It comes after local residents complained about the King’s ‘vermin infestation’ in gardens on his sprawling Sandringham estate.
At a recent Sandringham parish council meeting one resident raised the issue of vermin in the gardens of the 300 or so rental properties.
The Sandringham estate manager, Rob Timmins, attending the meeting, said the responsibility for pest control lies with the ‘occupier, not the property owner.’
It comes after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s new home on the estate, Marsh Farm in Wolferton, was invaded by moles earlier this year – with dozens of molehills suddenly appearing all over the front lawn.
As part of Charles and Camilla’s visit, the royal couple will tour the RHS Royal Legacy Garden designed by Catherine McDonald, in collaboration with His Majesty, 77
Their Majesties arrival at the long-awaited event in Sandringham comes as the pair’s grandson, Prince George, celebrates his 13th birthday today
But the problem is believed to be worse than that, including rats and mice attracted by the nearby crops and food sources.
Tenants in King Charles’ properties at Sandringham are banned from keeping cats, which means that mice, rats and other vermin are more common in the area.
The prohibition dates back to Queen Elizabeth II, who brought it in to save wildlife – but according to one tenant, it gives rats ‘a free pass’.
‘There are always rodents in an agricultural area like this,’ one tenant told the Daily Mail, on condition of anonymity, ‘but most people can keep the numbers under control by having a cat.
Their Majesties arrival at the long-awaited event in Sandringham comes as the pair’s grandson, Prince George, celebrates his 13th birthday today.
Shortly before Charles and Camilla’s arrival, the future King’s parents shared a photo of George on their social media accounts with the message ‘Happy 13th birthday, George!’
The picture was taken at Kensington Palace by one of the couple’s favourite and most trusted photographers, Matt Porteous, and marks an important new stage in the young royal’s life.
In September he will become a boarder at Eton College, marking the start of his senior school experience.
He is set to follow in the footsteps of his father, Prince William, who met some of his best friends at the school.
It will be the first time since 2019 that George has attended school without at least one of his two siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
George, who is the eldest of the Wales children with younger siblings Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight, was first introduced to the world when his parents stepped out of the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London with him in their arms.
According to royal commentator Michael Cole, Charles plays the loving role of a ‘hands-on’ grandparent with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
When Prince George was born in 2013, Charles spoke of how ‘overjoyed’ he was to have become a grandfather.
He explained: ‘Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone’s life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time.’
In a touching tribute to his first grandson, Charles planted trees at Balmoral and called it Prince George’s Wood.
During a 2018 interview for Prince, Son & Heir – Charles at 70, Queen Camilla said of her husband: ‘He will get down on his knees and crawl about with them for hours, you know making funny noises and laughing and my grandchildren adore him, absolutely adore him.’
She continued: ‘He reads Harry Potter, and he can do all the different voices, and I think children really appreciate that.’
In agreement, William described Charles as a ‘brilliant grandfather’ – although he wished he could spend more time with the grandchildren.
‘It’s something I’m working more heavily on, put it that way,’ William said. ‘I think he does have time for it, but I would like him to have more time with the children.
‘I think he’s… now he’s reached his 70th year it’s a perfect time to consolidate a little bit because as most families would do, you are worried about having them around and making sure their health’s okay. And he’s the fittest man I know but equally I want him to be fit until he’s 95.
‘So, having more time with him at home would be lovely, and being able to you know, play with the grandchildren.
‘Because when he’s there, he’s brilliant. But we need him there as much as possible.’
