Everyone at Henry de Bromhead's stable in Co Waterford seemed very relieved that the "Queen of Knockeen" – as Cheltenham Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle is affectionately known – refrained from trying to bite the future Queen of England.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, appeared totally at ease in the company of the majestic racehorse.
“You can’t beat a good mare,” Camilla told de Bromhead and winning jockey Rachael Blackmore. “You’re a very lucky lady. I’m very envious.”
“Friendly” and “interested” was the consensus of the yard staff who met Camilla. “She’s just like anyone else, really. No disrespect to the woman, but there’s no airs and graces about her,” said head lad Brian Scott.
“Honey behaved, which was good. That was always a concern,” de Bromhead confessed. “You wouldn’t know with Honey. She might bite or kick someone.”
It was day two of a three-day trip to Ireland by the duchess and her husband, the Prince of Wales, and everything was going swimmingly.
Even Harvey, the yard’s ebullient therapy goat whose job is to help keep the racehorses’ nerves steady, managed to restrain his enthusiasm.
“He [Harvey] absolutely loves ladies,” confessed Magdalena Scott, Brian’s wife.
The horses were not too put out by the fuss, Brian added, as Camilla retreated for tea and scones with de Bromhead’s mother, Sally, and the yard got back to work.
“There’s cameras in and out of here the whole time.”
The unofficial theme of the trip – which is part of the royal couple’s plan to see “every county of this majestic land”, Prince Charles said – was shared passions and shared challenges. The itinerary for Thursday afternoon was very much focused on the passions.
While Camilla was in Knockeen, Charles visited a farm in the area and toured the gardens at Grow HQ, where he tried to convince green-fingered school children that no crisp or chip tastes better than one made from a potato grown in your own garden.
Arriving into an unseasonably warm Waterford city earlier in the day, the royal couple were greeted by a small crowd of onlookers, and the sight of two people knocking lumps out of each other with replica swords in the shadow of Reginald’s Tower. Luckily, it was all part of a Viking re-enactment staged in their honour.
At a civic reception in City Hall, Prince Charles met members of the local community, including sportspeople, artists, actors, entrepreneurs and politicians. He referred to Waterford’s claim to the title of “the best place to live in Ireland” – a gong it was awarded in a competition run by the Irish Times – and even braved a few words in Irish.
It was generally agreed to be a valiant effort, but no match for his mother’s grasp of the language. “Tá áthas an domhain orainn a bheith anseo i bPort Lairge,” he said.
The mood turned more sombre when he addressed "the uncertainty and brutal aggression" being faced by the people of Ukraine. He said he had been "most moved" to meet members of Waterford's Ukrainian community.
“Such times as we are living through bring into sharp relief the importance of peace and friendship, which history tells us we can too easily take for granted.”
Our two countries, he said, “are not just neighbours, but partners who, though at times we have travelled a troubled road together, have through reconciliation and understanding forged a future that has benefited both our peoples and the world.”
Prince Charles finished his speech with a final greeting in Irish. “Is deas a bheith arís le seanchairde,” he said.
“Was that Ukrainian?” one of the waiting press was heard to wonder.
Tomorrow, the royal tour moves to Tipperary.
