Camilla steps onto Victoria's private beach

She and Prince Albert had bought Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in 1845, and it remained one of her favourite homes. “It is impossible to imagine a prettier spot,” she said.

It fell to Dame Judi Dench, who has played Victoria in several films, to welcome the Duchess of Cornwall there. The actress, who is patron of the Friends of Osborne House, showed Camilla the restored Durbar Room, which was one of the locations for Victoria And Abdul, a film in which she played the main role.

After Victoria’s death in 1901, the house was given to the state and parts of the pavilion opened to the public as early as 1904.

Meanwhile, The Prince of Wales visited a woodland research lab at Birmingham University’s Institute of Forest Research. The site, made up of 90ft gantry towers in an oak forest, was established in 2014, to conduct research on woodlands and forests.