Do you work at a strip club? Duke asks female sea cadet

Philip was accompanying the Queen on a visit to Exeter as part of a tour of Devon on Thursday when he asked 24-year-old Elizabeth Rendle what she did for a living.

Miss Rendle, who is an adult member of the Barnstaple Sea Cadets, said when she told him she worked in a nightclub, he asked if it was a strip club, before joking that it was "probably too cold for that anyway".

During the visit, the Queen, wearing a bright purple dress coat and hat, checked over equipment and watched fencing and club displays as the Cadet band played on.

The royal visit was part of celebrations to mark 150 years of the Cadet movement, and Army, Sea and Air Cadets performed displays before the Queen unveiled a commemorative plaque.

She was offered the chance to try her hand at rock climbing but declined, saying that she was wearing the wrong shoes.

Corporal Jess Palfrey, who has been a cadet for four years, was taking part in rock climbing demonstrations on a temporary plastic wall.

She met the Queen, and said: "I asked her if she wanted to climb the wall and she said 'I don't think I have got the right shoes on for that'.

"She asked if it was fun and said it looked quite difficult."

She added: "It was amazing to meet her, nerve wracking, I was shaking, but it's such a sense of achievement."

Staff Sergeant Ryan Braunton-Turner, 16, said the Queen asked about the community sports leadership award.

"She thought it was good that we took control and share leadership," he said.

The royal couple also met the parents of cadets and praised their commitment.