Queen Camilla surprised during star-studded palace reception

The actress, in character, ushered the Queen to a seat in the next door Throne Room before taking to the stage with Dr Who Star Ncuti Gatwa as Algernon and Hugh Skinner, who played Prince William in the Channel 4 comedy series The Windsors, as Jack Worthing.

Camilla, wearing a blue scallop detail dress by Anna Valentine, laughed along as the actors performed a scene in which Jack tells Lady Bracknell he was found in a handbag at Victoria Station as a baby.

There was laughter as it ended with the question from Algernon: "Shall we go to the Palace?" followed by Jack’s angry reply: "No, I can't abide the Palace."

The Queen later revealed the play was "one of my favourites" as she met the performers in the Picture Gallery.

And she joked that she might need to borrow part of Lady Bracknell’s costume for her next State Banquet.

Greeting Sharon D Clarke, she asked: "Lady Bracknell, herself. Did you enjoy it?"

"I have loved every second of playing Lady Bracknell, it was never something I ever expected to play," she replied.

“Fantastic, absolutely brilliant,” Camilla told her.

Putting a hand on the Queen's shoulder, Sharon asked, "It's a play that you love?"

"It’s one of my favourites, it's so funny, it really makes me laugh," said Camilla. "You are brilliant at it, you got her spot on."

And gesturing at the actress's gem-studded sash she said: "I like all your decorations."

"You can't nick any of them," replied Sharon, adding, "But if you want to fashion yourself like me…"

"I feel I could borrow a few, for a State Dinner. I think it would be just the job,” joked the Queen. "That’s a very big diamond.”

Greeting Ncuti Gatwa, she said: "How are you? The last time I saw you were recording Twas The Night Before Christmas," referring to a filmed performance of the famous poem that both she and the King appeared in to support The Actors Benevolent Fund after the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020.

“It was so much fun,” he recalled. “Thank you for having me back.”

In a speech following the performance, which also featured a musical number from London Road, a production about the Ipswich Strangler murders, the National Theatre’s Chair Sir Damon Buffini told the Queen: "Thank you so much for letting us invade your home. It’s absolutely fantastic that you’re our patron. We are after all the Royal National Theatre, it means a huge amount to us to have your support.

"We'd like to see you more often. You could drag your other half along as well if you'd like to, we promise it won't be too long."

Earlier Camilla had been escorted into the reception by the National’s outgoing Director Rufus Norris, whose own speech was interrupted by Sir Simon Russell-Beale with a performance of “Speak the Speech” from Hamlet, a monologue which offers advice on the art of acting.

There was laughter as he gestured to the famous faces as he delivered a line about actors who have “so strutted and bellowed that I have thought some of Nature's journeymen had made men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably.”

The Queen was also introduced to Indhu Rubasingham, who becomes the National Theatre's first-ever female director and joint chief executive with its executive director Kate Varah.

Camilla became patron of the National Theatre in 2022. The role was previously held by the Duchess of Sussex, from 2019 to 2021 and prior to that, by Queen Elizabeth II.

With a global audience reach of 19 million on stage, on tour, in schools, and cinema the National Theatre is active in every local authority in the UK and works with hundreds of schools and communities to inspire creativity, develop skills and create pathways for careers in theatre.

As she departed the event, Camilla told guests: "That was a very lovely occasion."

The National Theatre hopes to raise £125 million to upgrade and add a skills centre to its Grade II-listed home on London's Southbank, an example of brutalist architecture which in 1998 was likened to a "nuclear power station" by then Prince Charles. 

Cate Blanchett joined the board of Trustees in late 2024 and like all the other famous faces at Tuesday's reception, has appeared on stage at the National.