Princes Charles and Duchess of Cornwall admire dog in a pram at Chelsea Flower Show

Camilla first met Dill more than 10 years ago

Charles and Camilla meet with Jack Russell terrier Dill (Getty)

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have been captured admiring a dog in a pram at the Sandringham Flower Show.

Photographs from the event on Wednesday (27 July) showed the couple stopping and taking turns to pet a white Jack Russell terrier Dill on the head.

The owner of the pup, Steven Southern of Bawtry in South Yorkshire, said afterward that Princes Charles and Camilla are “definitely dog people”.

Southern also revealed that it wasn’t Camilla’s first encounter with Dill. The Duchess first met him 11 years ago, at the 2011 event.

“They met in 2011 and Dill actually rolled over for Camilla to tickle his tummy and she remembered. How they remember I’ve no idea,” Southern explained.

Camilla has met Dill before (Getty Images)

“I mentioned it to her that we had met before.”

Recalling his first meeting with royals, Southern said he had bumped heads with Charles after Camilla’s diamond brooch fell off and they both tried to pick it up.

Sandringham Flower Show takes place at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, with the one-day show attracting around 20,000 visitors each year.

Charles stopped to stroke Dill (Getty Images)

The profits from each show are donated to local charities and since 1977 the show committee has given around £780,000 to good causes.

Wednesday’s event marked the return of the show for the first time since 2019, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While being shown flowers in a display tent, Charles told one exhibitor: “I used to come with my grandmother every year. She would be so pleased it keeps going.”

Earlier this month, Camilla revealed that Charles finds “true peace” in the countryside.

In a tribute to her husband, published in an issue of Country Life magazine, the duchess said Charles is a “countryman to his very core”.

“It’s the place where he is most happy and relaxed, an integral part of his heart and soul,” she said.

“Whether he’s hedge-laying in the pouring rain, striding, like a mountain goat, up impossible steep Highland hills, planting trees in the arboretum or pruning at Highgrove, this is where he finds true peace.”