King Charles donned a quirky tie as he joined Queen Camilla and 7,000 guests at a Buckingham Palace garden party today.
The monarch, 76, looked dapper in a grey suit as he looked out over thousands of people who arrived for the event at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday afternoon.
He wore a light cream waistcoat with his suit, pairing it with a light blue tie, and black top hat. His pale blue tie boasted a unique print, featuring small submarines.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla, 77, looked typically elegant in a white midi frock, which she paired with a white hat.
She finished her ensemble with two-tone navy and white low-heeled pumps, and she carried an umbrella.
Today’s event, the second royal garden party of the year, was a special themed event, supported by the Department for Education.
It was held to recognise and celebrate those working in education across the United Kingdom: attendees were representatives across educational fields.
It comes after Queen Camilla visited Westminster Abbey on Wednesday morning to unveil a foundation stone for a building that has been constructed in honour of her husband.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are pictured attending the Education and Skills Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday afternoon
The royal travelled to Westminster to view the earliest stages of The King Charles III Sacristy, which is currently being built next to the historic Abbey.
She looked regal as she stepped out in an elegant polka-dot monochrome Fiona Clare couture maxi dress, teamed with comfortable black heels and a matching clutch bag.
To accessorise, the queen sported her glitzy £4,500 Van Cleef & Arpels 18 carot gold bracelet featuring the famous blue clover motifs and donned chic pearl earrings.
She wore her signature platinum blonde tresses down in a wavy blow-dry and opted for natural makeup with a hint of pink lipstick.
Camilla, who is patron of the Westminster Abbey Sacristy Project, was welcomed by the Dean of Westminster and met the architect behind the plans, Ptolemy Dean.
The new structure will be home to the welcome, ticket and security facilities to help shift footfall away from the Abbey itself in order that it is left as a sacred place.
The King was pictured tipping his top hat as he arrived at the garden party on Wednesday afternoon
Charles’ tie boasted an interesting pattern. The pale blue grosgrain-type fabric featured a small submarine print
King Charles (pictured, centre) greets members of the public at the Education and Skills Garden Party
The royal (pictured) beamed as he spoke to guests at the event – it is thought that some 7,000 people were invited
Camilla beamed as she unveiled the foundation stone and gave a short speech after laying the rock, joking that her visit on Wednesday was far less ‘spooky’ than when she saw the project in October last year.
Joining the Duke of Buccleuch in removing a red cloth from the engraving, she told guests attending a ceremony to mark the occasion: ‘I just want to say how delighted I am to unveil this foundation stone.
‘I can’t believe that last time I visited here that there is now a floor, last time I came, there were quite a lot of skeletons.
‘I just hope that in 2026, when it is due to finish, that God willing, my husband and I will be back here again to open the King Charles III Sacristy.’
The Sacristy is being constructed on the north side of the Abbey, on the footprint of a medieval building.
Excavations of the site uncovered the remains of monks, briefly halting works before they were covered with a protective layer to allow building work to resume.
The Sacristy is being built on the footprint of the medieval Great Sacristy, which was built in the 1250s. It’s where monks used to keep vestments, altar linens, and other sacred items used in daily worship.
Westminster Abbey was consecrated in 1269 and has always played a significant part in the lives of the Royal Family.
It attracts millions of tourists every year and has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066, while also hosting 16 royal weddings; some former monarchs, such as Elizabeth I, are buried there.
The Queen looked regal as she stepped out in an elegant polka dot monochrome Fiona Clare couture maxi dress, along with comfortable black heels and a matching clutch bag
Camilla beamed as she unveiled the foundation stone before giving a short speech to those gathered
Camilla, who is patron of the Westminster Abbey Sacristy Project, was welcomed by the Dean of Westminster and met the architect behind the plans, Ptolemy Dean
The queen also toured Westminster Abbey, met with staff and took a look at the updated Brontë sisters memorial
Queen Camilla also met up with her old pal Alan Titchmarsh at the event on Wednesday morning
The Queen also toured Westminster Abbey, met with staff and took a look at the updated Brontë sisters memorial.
Writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne’s names were printed on the Abbey 85 years ago but they were spelt wrong, reading ‘Bronte’ instead of ‘Brontë’.
This was updated in September last year to add the diaeresis, following uproar from fans of the literary siblings.
Queen Camilla also met up with her old pal Alan Titchmarsh, who is also an Ambassador to the Sacristy Project. The pair joined a reception with those who have worked on the building.
Speaking to the TV presenter, who she greeted with a kiss later, she said: ‘Hello Alan, it’s either in the garden or at Westminster Abbey – and Chelsea next week. As ever, it’s lovely to see you.’
She again joked of her last visit to the Sacristy site in October last year: ‘It was full of skeletons, it was quite spooky, wasn’t it?’
The royal is good friends with the gardening presenter and even appeared on an episode of Gardeners’ World with Alan in 2021.
Camilla and Charles are known for being interested in nature, sustainability and the environment with the royal couple taking great pride in their gardens at Highgrove.
The Queen also met with Thomas van Straubenzee, a global property businessman, who is one of Prince William’s closest friends and Princess Charlotte’s godfather and and venture capitalist Matt Cohler.
Catherine Armitage, wife of hedge fund manager John, read the lesson, before an address by the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, who is High Steward of the Abbey.
The Duke told the Queen: ‘The unveiling of a foundation stone [at the Abbey] by a member of the royal family has been recorded only on two occasions, by King Henry III 805 years ago, almost to the day on the 16th rather than the 14th of May, and then in 2016 when His Majesty unveiled the foundation stone of the Tower and the Jubilee Galleries.
To accessorise, the Queen sported her glitzy £4,500 Van Cleef & Arpels 18 carot gold bracelet, featuring the famous blue clover motifs and wore chic pearl earrings
Gardening TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh is an Ambassador to the Sacristy Project
Queen Camilla also met with Thomas van Straubenzee, a global property businessman who is close with the Prince of Wales and is Princess Charlotte’s godfather
‘And as we have pretty much run out of building sites, it may be the last. So you’ll see, Ma’am, that this really is a very special occasion, and that in unveiling a stone here, you are in good company.’
The queen was escorted to the site by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle and members of the Chapter and joined by her sister Annabel Elliot for the ceremony, which included prayers and a short performance of Anton Bruckner’s Locus Iste by the Abbey choir.
Afterwards she chatted to Ian Bartlett, Clerk of the Works, telling him: ‘Full steam ahead, it’s very exciting.’
She also congratulated stonemason Mark Croll on his ‘beautiful’ carving on the foundation stone before speaking to architect Ptolemy Dean.
The sacristy building is being constructed on the footprint of the medieval Great Sacristy, built in the 1250s during Henry III’s reconstruction of the Abbey for monks to store vestments, altar linens, and other sacred items used in daily worship. It also played an important role in the life of the Abbey as a place for the formation of processions on church and state occasions.
Designed in sympathy with the Abbey’s Gothic architecture by architect Ptolemy Dean, the new building will reflect the history of the original by freeing the Abbey for worship and pilgrimage, and will once again serve as a gathering place on major state occasions.
After the service, the Queen went into the Abbey to meet staff, including the visitor and facilities and conservation teams, stopping to admire the recently updated memorial to the Brontë sisters. The distinctive dots over the ‘e’ were restored to ensure the authors are remembered in the way they themselves wrote their names.
She told Adrian Harris, head of communications; ‘I see your Instagram, it’s very good,’ then, chatting to the IT team, she joked, ‘I’m always impressed, being a technophobe myself.’