Prince Charles and Camilla have appeared in a special episode of EastEnders to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
The royal couple’s unlikely cameo appeared to stun the residents of Albert Square when they were announced as guests of honour at a street party organised by Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer.
During the episode, Charles and Camilla were given a tour of fictional east London suburb Walford and were introduced to some of the long-running BBC soap’s characters.
In somewhat stilted scenes, the Prince of Wales met fruit and veg stall owner Martin Fowler, chatting briefly about his admiration for London markets.
“That’s the wonderful thing about London, all the different markets and stalls where people inherit them over the generations,” Charles said.
He also told Frankie Lewis, played by the Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, that “you lip-read very well” before meeting other residents of the square.
EastEnders stalwart Patrick Trueman, played by Rudolph Walker, even managed to tempt Charles and Camilla to a “tipple” of rum, prompting Charles to quip: “I thought you’d never ask.”
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cornwall tied a ribbon to commemorate “all the victims of domestic abuse” during her appearance in Thursday night’s episode.
In the poignant scene Camilla was introduced to Karen Taylor, played by Lorraine Stanley, whose on-screen daughter Chantelle Atkins was murdered in a domestic abuse storyline.
The duchess took a purple ribbon and tied it around a tree in her memory, adding: “It’s very important that she is remembered. My heart goes out to you, I know a lot of people who have lost children.”
The platinum jubilee visit by Charles and Camilla is not the first time royalty has graced Albert Square. In 2001, the Queen visited the EastEnders set, where she stepped behind the bar at the Queen Vic and strolled around Albert Square and through the street market, meeting stars of the show.
