Queen Camilla takes King Charles on a date afternoon

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.

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.

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.