This week Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, celebrated her 72nd birthday and because she’s not one to shirk her royal duties, she did so in the most unusual of ways.
While part of the day was spent cutting a cake that was not her birthday cake, the other involved cuddling donkeys.
Duchess Camilla and Prince Charles were on a three-day tour of Cornwall and Devon this week and the duchess’ birthday happened to fall in the middle of the tour, on Wednesday.
And so the royal pair spent it attending a 70th anniversary celebration of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act in Exmoor National Park.
During the visit the duchess was asked to do the honour of cutting a cake that had been specially commissioned to honour the parks.
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were clearly chuffed to have the duchess sung to for her birthday!
Even though it wasn’t her birthday cake, the national parks staff still burst into song, singing Happy Birthday as Camilla and Charles smiled broadly, clearly delighted by the gesture.
Prince Charles followed the song by giving her a warm hug, proving that the two are just as in love as ever.
The duchess cuts a cake made to honour the UK’s national parks.
The Duchess of Cornwall also celebrated her 72nd birthday with some unlikely companions: donkeys!
She visited the Donkey Sanctuary, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary. Camilla was asked to name the sanctuary’s new foal and landed on a very sweet name, Sweetpea!
Duchess Camilla will receive updates on the little donkey’s progress as she grows up.
The day before her birthday the Duchess of Cornwall proved she was a dab hand in the kitchen, visiting Ginsters Bakery on Tuesday, where she tried her hand at making a traditional Cornish pasty.
One local Michelin star chef, who was particularly impressed with her baking attempts, told media: “It is a real skill that takes a while to get the knack of.
“It took me ages to learn how to do it properly so for her to do what she did, she did very well. It was better than my first go.”
