The Queen joked that she is “not quite the expert, but my husband is” as she poured a pint of Guinness in Royal Hillsborough.
Camilla brought traffic to a standstill in the Co Down village with deep royal connections, as hundreds lined the streets when she took part in a walkabout and met well-wishers and children from local schools.
The engagement came on the second day of the King and Queen’s visit to Northern Ireland.
She began in the Parson’s Nose pub and restaurant where she met staff before being invited to help pour a pint of stout.
Moving behind the bar, Camilla said, “I’m not quite the expert, but my husband is”, before receiving a round of applause as she displayed a seemingly perfectly poured pint of Guinness.
She then met a number of local entrepreneurs and viewed some of their business creations before moving on to grocer ER Wilson, the oldest shop in Hillsborough, where she was presented with flowers.
By now, word of the Queen’s attendance in the village had spread and hundreds lined barriers along the main street, with Camilla taking time to shake hands with many of those who had gathered.
She also enjoyed a performance from the choir of a local special school before chatting to several of the young singers.
Camilla then walked the short distance to Arthur’s Coffee House where she met staff, customers and a number of residents from the village.
She then took part in another walkabout, receiving flowers and acknowledging cheers from the crowd.
She also took time to speak with some of the uniformed members of the Hillsborough Fort Guard, which carries out ceremonial duties in the village and was last year restored to full strength for the first time in 130 years.
One of those who the Queen spoke to was Alexandra Black and her three-year-old daughter Joanna Black.
Ms Black said: “We got to meet the Queen, she thanked us for coming out to see her.
“Joanna was delighted that the Queen actually made a point of coming down the road to see us.
“We thought we might not get to see her but she came down and it has been lovely.
“We gave her a wee bouquet of flowers which came from the same farm as supplied some of the flowers from the coronation.
“We wanted to keep up that connection.
“It is nice they always keep coming back to see us in Northern Ireland.”
“We’ve come down from Tobermore, we had to leave at 7am this morning to make sure we got here on time, it was well worth it. She was absolutely lovely,” she said.
Mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh Amanda Grehan introduced Camilla to local traders.
She said: “It is absolutely fantastic to see the Queen coming to see us here in Royal Hillsborough. We are thrilled.
“My theme this year is ‘a city which sees everyone’ and today our Queen saw everyone.
“We had children from our special needs school performing for our Queen.
“She met all of our local businesses in Royal Hillsborough, it is a massive attraction.”
Lynne McCabe, the owner of Arthur’s, said she was thrilled that Camilla had visited her business.
She said: “As the host, I was introducing her to all of our loyal customers and our team here.
“She was very keen to meet the traders here in the village. It was lovely to see her here.”
Hillsborough is the home of the royal residence in Northern Ireland, Hillsborough Castle.
The village was officially granted the “Royal” prefix by Letters Patent in October 2021.
