The royal couple set aside formalities during a special visit to the London Zoo, where they took an active role in caring for animals.
On Wednesday, King Charles and Queen Camilla spent their day at the zoo, checking on the health of a penguin, feeding a tortoise, and painting a snail.
Amid a scorching heatwave affecting the UK, Charles humorously remarked, “I would like to join the penguins in the pool” to cool off.
They also used stethoscopes to listen to the heartbeat of a Humboldt penguin, gently holding the bird while other penguins roamed nearby beach-like areas and swam in a pool.
Dressed in his customary striped suit and sporting reflective sunglasses, Charles observed Queen Camilla as she fed Polly, a 32-year-old giant Galapagos tortoise, to the cheers of the crowd.
This marked Charles’s first visit to the zoo as patron of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), having first visited the attraction at just one year old to see Brumas, a newborn polar bear cub. Since 1828, every monarch has served as patron of the society.
During their visit, the royal couple learned about the launch of a new wildlife center in honor of the ZSL’s anniversary. This center will be utilized for research into diseases and their transmission between species, training veterinarians, supporting global conservation projects, and providing new medical facilities for the zoos in London and Whipsnade.
