Braving the baking sun, King Charles gave a “very well behaved” Humboldt penguin a health check with a stethoscope during a visit to London Zoo.
The King, alongside Queen Camilla, joined zoo vet Stefan Saverimuttu in Camden on Thursday, where dozens of two-foot-tall penguins greeted them.
Crouching down, His Majesty used a red stethoscope to listen to the heartbeat of a penguin named Lannister, who patiently perched on a rock.
Queen Camilla also participated in the examination, bending down with a blue stethoscope.
“Lannister sounded perfect and Lannister was very well behaved for the King and the Queen,” Mr Saverimuttu said.
“They’re very endearing,” the King said about the birds.
Asked how the couple’s veterinary skills had been, the vet said Charles and Camilla had taken to it “very well”.
“Both of them were really enthusiastic about the penguins,” he added.
“Penguins have a bit of a beak on them so I think if you’ve never met one before, they might be a bit intimidating, but neither the King or the Queen was intimidated in the slightest and they went straight in and gave it a go and they did really well.”
The couple dressed on theme with their visit, as Charles wore a blue suit and an animal-themed tie and sunglasses while Camilla, carrying a cream parasol, chose a white Fiona Clare dress, adorned with wildlife including elephants and deer.
Some 71 Humboldt penguins live at the zoo in Regent’s Park (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)
During the trip, which celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) conservation charity, the couple paused to meet a Galápagos tortoise named Polly and help feed her some snacks.
The 31-year-old tortoise was presented with a watermelon decorated with the number 200 and flowers.
Using metal tongs, the Queen fed some of the greenery to Polly while the King offered her some leaves by hand.
Polly largely ignored the King’s offering, prompting Charles to jokingly ask her keeper whether the tortoise was on a “diet”.
Charles and Camilla attempted to capture the penguins’ attention using special laser pointers (PA Wire)
The visit was Charles’ first tour of the zoo as the ZSL’s patron. He visited the attraction for the first time as a one-year-old to see Brumas, a newborn polar bear cub.
Since 1828, every monarch has been patron of the society.
The zoo was founded by the ZSL that year in London’s Regent’s Park, becoming the world’s first scientific zoo.
During the tour, the couple heard about the creation of a new wildlife centre, announced by ZSL to mark the anniversary.
The centre will be used to investigate diseases in animals, train wildlife vets, track how diseases spread between species and support conservation projects around the world as well as providing new veterinary facilities for the animals at ZSL’s two zoos – London and Whipsnade.
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