The future Queen, dressed in lilac, was pictured chatting to guests at the event, which included people from charities and organisations the late Queen served during her 70-year reign, such as the Royal College of Nursing, Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, and the Royal Ballet. A poignant moment during yesterday’s engagements emerged when the princess met former Met Police officer Tony Gledhill, a trustee of the VC and GC association, who comforted Catherine with a hug after telling her that his wife of 67 years had recently died.
Mr Gledhill, a George Cross recipient, received words of support from the Waleses and the King and said afterwards: “The princess was lovely, she was fantastic.”
Meanwhile, William was left speechless over the youthful looks of one of the centenarians of the event, Joan Illingworth, from Bradford.
Mrs Illingworth is a great-grandmother of seven and has the mental abilities of someone decades younger.
The prince held her hand for around 30 seconds when they were first introduced and told her “I can’t believe you are 100, do I need to call security, have you snuck in?”, and was amazed when family members said her secret was Liquorice Allsorts and clotted cream.
He was later spotted drinking a special cocktail produced in his grandmother’s honour featuring Dubonnet, lemon juice, rosemary and tonic, but no gin, as the event was early in the day.
The royals attended a series of events in Elizabeth’s memory on Tuesday, with the King and Queen earlier visiting the British Museum to see the final design for the national memorial to the late Queen.
A rare group photo showing all the working royals attending the reception was published, featuring the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal, Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.
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