The Queen made friends with an “attention-seeking” guide dog during the first Buckingham Palace garden party of the season.
No sooner had Camilla rubbed Jeanette Binns’ Labrador Haworth under his chin, then the dog made those nearby laugh by rolling onto his back so the Queen could tickle his belly.
Camilla described him as “lovely” and said: “Well I’m very honoured to meet him.”
The King and Queen hosted up to 8,000 guests in the palace’s garden as community stalwarts, charity workers and leading figures enjoyed afternoon tea on the lawns.
During a typical summer gathering around 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of cake are consumed by those invited, who can wear their national dress, or lounge suit for men and summer dress for women.
Ms Binns, an equalities officer from Preston who works at Lancashire County Council, said about her guide dog: “He did pile it on a bit. He knows how to impress.
“I’ve always said he’s an attention-seeker, he’s gone up a notch with this.”
A number of guests were selected to meet the royal couple including a group from the Ebony Horse Club the Queen supports as their president.
She admired the colourful shoes of China Morgan, a yard manager at the south London charity, which teaches riding and equine skills to youngsters, describing the footwear which had a My Little Pony design as “cool”.
The King, who is receiving on-going cancer treatment, met a group of social influencers including Sports Illustrated model Kelly Crump who is described as a breast cancer “thriver” for her positive posts about living with the disease.
The head of state and his wife were joined by the Princess Royal who baulked at the idea of running a marathon when she met two charity fun runners.
Craig McMurrough, 54, and charity partner Sarah Temple, 49, raise funds for an ovarian charity, running events such as the London Marathon and the Great North Run as “Mr and Mrs Ovary” as they are dressed as giant ovaries.
Mr McMurrough, from Cambridge, began his charity campaign following the death of his sister from the disease and when he told Anne he planned to run in the Sydney marathon later this year, she quipped “really, are you joking?”.
When shown pictures of their outfits Anne said laughing: “Do you run around like that? 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.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were also part of the royal party as were the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester who all spent time meeting guests.
