Centres of learning from across the country were honoured for their efforts including in tackling cancer with awards handed out at Buckingham Palace in a prestigious ceremony led by Queen Camilla.
Looking regal in a teal green long dress, Queen Camilla praised specialists with the Duchess of Gloucester who was on hand to help, a Windsor often referred to as the “underdog” of the Royal Family.
A leading participant at the ceremony included the Institute of Cancer Research in London for its pioneering work on breast cancer. During the occasion, Camilla thanked teams by saying: “What would we do without you?”
On social media platform X, royal fans praised the event and the royals. User @k_vanvoorhees wrote: “They work well together.”
Another user commented that they “both look marvelous” and another stated they respected the Duchess of Gloucester for “all the hard work” she has done over the years.
Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester, is the wife of the late Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, and is a full-time working member of the Royal Family. She is involved in many organisations, ranging from Parkinson’s UK to the Scottish Opera.
The Plumpton College principal and chief executive, Jeremy Kerswel, also received a Queen’s Anniversary Prize on behalf of his institution which has trained many of the nation’s wine industry experts for decades.
Mr Kerswel said: “It means so much, our award was in recognition of all the work the college has done over a number of years which has impacted the growth and success of the wine industry. When I got up onto the stage she [Queen Camilla] said ‘I am so pleased to see Plumpton here.'”
After the ceremony, the Queen was affectionately dubbed a “local girl” by Plumpton College, as Camilla, grew up near to it in Sussex.
Awards handed out recognised excellence and innovation in education, the economy and the wider world, and even included recognition for space engineering.
Queen Camilla has been notably busy this year as she steps up her participation in royal engagements following her husband King Charles’s cancer diagnosis.
On Wednesday, Camilla who is Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, welcomed former soldiers and their families to King Charles’s London residence for an event. It was her first engagement as patron of the Colonel’s Fund – the regiment’s charity.
The fund was established in 2007 and provides support to Grenadiers who have suffered serious physical or mental injury while on operational service, and their families.
Although the reigning monarch, King Charles, has not participated in any public-facing engagements since his diagnosis, he was all smiles as he met with the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday.
He told the Prime Minister had had been “reduced to tears” with overwhelming messages of support, as he sat down to restart his weekly meetings with Mr Sunak.
