Carefree King Charles and Queen Camilla have put on a cheerful display as they undertook one of their final engagements before the summer break.

The couple made their traditional pilgrimage to the Sandringham Flower Show, an event that has been held on the royal estate in Norfolk for almost 150 years.

This year, for the first time, it is being run by the Royal Horticultural Society, of which His Majesty is patron.

It also saw the monarch collaborate on a new ‘RHS Legacy Garden’ using local Norfolk materials to celebrate his long-held passion for horticulture, as well as champion rural skills and biodiversity.

Their Majesties arrived on the horse-drawn Victoria Carriage throughout the Old Norwich Gates to the main house to cheers from the crowds.

After standing for the national anthem they immediately set about shaking the first of hundreds of hands as they were shown round by RHS President Keith Weed and director general Clare Matterson.

The King, who along with his wife had enjoyed a private viewing the previous night, looked delighted to meet with garden collaborator Catherine Macdonald to view his garden, which offered a county feel.

The couple constantly stopped to meet and greeted the many thousands of members of the public who lined the route to catch a glimpse of them.

Their Majesties arrived on the horse-drawn Victoria Carriage throughout the Old Norwich Gates to the main house to cheers from the crowds

Their Majesties shook hands with excited members of the public while Camilla was met with a rather excited furry friend who was keen to embrace the Queen

‘Are you all mad keen gardeners?’ His Majesty asked.

‘I’m the same age as you,’ one well-wisher told him. ‘You are looking good!’

‘It gets much harder doesn’t it?’ Charles, dressed in a summer beige suit and brogues, laughed.

He also beamed when another fan told him: ‘You look so like your mum.’

Camilla, 79, sporting a pretty new £245 green Lexy London dress and a large plaster on her right thumb, asked another: ‘Are you enjoying yourself? There’s a lot to see.’

She was given a gift of a bag of citronella-based insect repellents by The Oil Hut, which might have come in useful earlier when her husband was forced to swat away a flying pest.

The sovereign was invited to present a new ‘The Kings Biodiversity Award’ to Sophie Goldber who has designed the ‘Mindful Chef’s Gathering’ inspired by a traditional orchard redesigned for a smaller garden.

He also gave an award for The Best Exhibit in the Floral Marquee Award to family-run business Roaleyn Fuschias from North Wales.

Meanwhile Her Majesty presented The Queen’s Choice of Upcycled Containers Award to the Whissonsett & District Horticultural Society and Gardening Club, with a special award to Ingoldisthorpe Church of England Primary School for their appropriately-named ‘The Queen Bee’ design featuring a ‘majestic queen bee planter symbolising leadership’.

Camilla, 79, sporting a pretty new £245 green Lexy London dress and a large plaster on her right thumb, asked another: ‘Are you enjoying yourself? There’s a lot to see’

Featuring floral displays, garden designs, demonstrators from lead gardeners and horticulatural experts, the first day of the event is set to explore the role of sustainability and wildlife-friendly gardening

She told them: ‘Very well done. It is such fun. ‘

The King also stopped to speak to a group of children from Weeting Primary School in Brandon saying: ‘Have you got a garden here? Have you been very busy at school? Do you grow any vegetables? Do you eat them? Have you tried any spinach – it’s the best thing on the world. Have a very nice holidays. You must be on holidays now? These poor exhausted teachers!’

Meanwhile the queen examined a large purple knitted radish with an impish smile on her face. ‘Thank you very much indeed, it’s very kind,’ she beamed.

She also chatted to a girl from Brighton who told her that she had been a member of the Pony Club at Plumpton , Sussex, where she herself grew up. ‘So was I!’ she trilled.

The couple departed in their horse and carriage but not before shaking several dozen more hands.

They have one more official engagement before departing for Scotland for the summer.

It comes after local residents complained about the King’s ‘vermin infestation’ in gardens on his sprawling Sandringham estate. 

At a recent Sandringham parish council meeting one resident raised the issue of vermin in the gardens of the 300 or so rental properties.

The Sandringham estate manager, Rob Timmins, attending the meeting, said the responsibility for pest control lies with the ‘occupier, not the property owner.’

It comes after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s new home on the estate, Marsh Farm in Wolferton, was invaded by moles earlier this year – with dozens of molehills suddenly appearing all over the front lawn.

As part of Charles and Camilla’s visit, the royal couple will tour the RHS Royal Legacy Garden designed by Catherine McDonald, in collaboration with His Majesty, 77

Their Majesties arrival at the long-awaited event in Sandringham comes as the pair’s grandson, Prince George, celebrates his 13th birthday today

But the problem is believed to be worse than that, including rats and mice attracted by the nearby crops and food sources.

Tenants in King Charles’ properties at Sandringham are banned from keeping cats, which means that mice, rats and other vermin are more common in the area.

The prohibition dates back to Queen Elizabeth II, who brought it in to save wildlife – but according to one tenant, it gives rats ‘a free pass’.

‘There are always rodents in an agricultural area like this,’ one tenant told the Daily Mail, on condition of anonymity, ‘but most people can keep the numbers under control by having a cat.

Their Majesties arrival at the long-awaited event in Sandringham comes as the pair’s grandson, Prince George, celebrates his 13th birthday today.

Shortly before Charles and Camilla’s arrival, the future King’s parents shared a photo of George on their social media accounts with the message ‘Happy 13th birthday, George!’

The picture was taken at Kensington Palace by one of the couple’s favourite and most trusted photographers, Matt Porteous, and marks an important new stage in the young royal’s life.

In September he will become a boarder at Eton College, marking the start of his senior school experience.

He is set to follow in the footsteps of his father, Prince William, who met some of his best friends at the school.

It will be the first time since 2019 that George has attended school without at least one of his two siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

George, who is the eldest of the Wales children with younger siblings Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight, was first introduced to the world when his parents stepped out of the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London with him in their arms.

According to royal commentator Michael Cole, Charles plays the  loving role of a ‘hands-on’ grandparent with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. 

When Prince George was born in 2013, Charles spoke of how ‘overjoyed’ he was to have become a grandfather.

He explained: ‘Grandparenthood is a unique moment in anyone’s life, as countless kind people have told me in recent months, so I am enormously proud and happy to be a grandfather for the first time.’

In a touching tribute to his first grandson, Charles planted trees at Balmoral and called it Prince George’s Wood.

During a 2018 interview for Prince, Son & Heir – Charles at 70, Queen Camilla said of her husband: ‘He will get down on his knees and crawl about with them for hours, you know making funny noises and laughing and my grandchildren adore him, absolutely adore him.’

She continued: ‘He reads Harry Potter, and he can do all the different voices, and I think children really appreciate that.’

In agreement, William described Charles as a ‘brilliant grandfather’ – although he wished he could spend more time with the grandchildren.

‘It’s something I’m working more heavily on, put it that way,’ William said. ‘I think he does have time for it, but I would like him to have more time with the children.

‘I think he’s… now he’s reached his 70th year it’s a perfect time to consolidate a little bit because as most families would do, you are worried about having them around and making sure their health’s okay. And he’s the fittest man I know but equally I want him to be fit until he’s 95.

‘So, having more time with him at home would be lovely, and being able to you know, play with the grandchildren.

‘Because when he’s there, he’s brilliant. But we need him there as much as possible.’