Queen Camilla surprised customers at a village pub this week by dropping in unannounced for lunch in a place that holds a special place in her heart.
Her Majesty visited The Half Moon in Plumpton, East Sussex, on Tuesday, enjoying a rare roast beef sandwich with a ginger beer before finishing her meal with an unexpected choice – a scoop of Percy Pig ice cream.
The surprise visit left customers stunned.
“There was no warning at all,” Tom Stovold, managing director of Revived Inns, which owns the pub, told Richard Eden of the Daily Mail.
“I was in the garden cutting the grass and I saw these dozen police officers turn up.”
After ordering lunch, The Queen took an interest in the pub’s ice cream parlour.
“We’ve got a little ice cream parlour and she was interested to try that,” Mr Stovold said.
“She had Percy Pig ice cream. She looked like she enjoyed it.”
He added: “Obviously, she gave a lot of the other punters a real bit of a shock. They couldn’t believe it.”
The visit was more than just a lunchtime stop. Plumpton is where Queen Camilla spent much of her early childhood.
Nestled in the East Sussex countryside, around six miles north of Brighton, the picturesque village of just over 1,000 residents has a royal connection stretching back decades.
Camilla grew up at The Laines, an 18th-century house owned by her father, Major Bruce Shand, who lived there for 45 years. The future Queen spent her earliest years in the village before moving to London at the age of 10.
She has previously described her childhood home as “perfect in every way.”
The Queen was baptised at nearby Firle Church, and it is thought the then Prince Charles visited Major Shand there during his courtship of Camilla before the couple eventually married.
Plumpton also holds special memories for The King.
The village is home to Plumpton Racecourse, where the then Prince of Wales rode in his first race as an amateur jockey in March 1980.
Riding a horse called Long Wharf, Charles finished a highly respectable second place, marking the beginning of a 14-month spell in the saddle. Although he never rode a winner, he would go on to enjoy considerable success as a racehorse owner after inheriting Queen Elizabeth II’s racing interests.
