Queen Camilla brought The King along as her plus one as she started a special celebration that has long been important to her.
The Queen was in Cornwall to start the 2026 Big Lunch events and The King came along to join the party.
Their Majesties headed to the Eden Project in Cornwall for the celebration – it’s the home of the Big Lunch which is held every year to bring communities together to share food and company.
This year, it will combine with the Big Help Out which was set up in 2023 to mark the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla. The Big Help Out encourages people to take time to volunteer in their local area and help others. The double event in 2026 is called the Big Do! and it takes place between June 5 and June 8.
Ahead of that, Queen Camilla was at the Eden Project for the launch and King Charles joined her for the party.
The King and Queen also helped mark the 25th anniversary of the Eden Project which has been a major attraction in Cornwall since its inception.
Part of its charitable remit is supporting nature and nature recovery and that is the focus of a new installation there, the Marble Runs. It is designed to encourage people of all ages to get out and play in nature and it includes eight marble runs that cover over 100 metres. Some of the marbles are made from trees that fell in the storms that hit Cornwall earlier this year. King Charles and Queen Camilla were presented with marbles made from an ash tree that was hit on the Duchy Estate and tried their luck at the run with the help of local school children.
(Photo from The Eden Project)
There was also a chance for The King and Queen to tour some of the gardens that have made the Eden Project famous throughout the world. It attracts thousands of visitors to Cornwall every year and, as it celebrates its 25th anniversary, it’s estimated to have had an economic impact of £6.8 billion across the economy of the south west of England in its quarter of a century.
There was a musical welcome to the Eden Project with singing by the pupils of Luxulyan School. The royal visitors were also shown many of the gardens that make up the Eden Project. And they heard about Anthropy, the national gathering of leaders hosted at Eden Project in the coming days.
One of the areas they will be discussing is the Big Lunch and The Big Help Out and it’s hoped that more businesses will start to adopt them as annual parts of their activity.
The Big Lunch has counted on Queen Camilla as its patron since 2013 and she is often seen at gatherings around the country to support it. In 2022, during the Platinum Jubilee, she took her husband as a plus one to another famous Big Lunch, held on Albert Square by the EastEnders and broadcast on BBC One during the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
(Photo from The Eden Project)
There was a tribute to the late Queen at this year’s lunch launch. Queen Camilla and King Charles attempted to cut a giant cake with a ceremonial sword, just as Elizabeth II had done in 2021 when she visited the Eden Project with Camilla and Kate, then Duchess of Cornwall and Duchess of Cambridge.
While Queen Elizabeth II had accomplished her cake cutting with a flourish, and had batted away the offer of a smaller knife to make the ceremonial first slice, King Charles and Queen Camilla found their attempt more of a struggle.
The King and Queen ended up laughing as the tried to drag the ceremonial sword through a sweet treat designed as a street party.
If you would like to hold your own Big Lunch and Big Help Out, this year’s Big Do!, then more information is available on the official website.
