Sullen koalas, wild horses and unruly dogs scratching their unmentionables – it’s all quite beastly to be royal… as these charming photos show

They say you should never work with children or animals, but if you are a member of the Royal family you have little choice in the matter.

Senior royals carrying out their duties often have to meet, pet and photograph all kinds of creatures – and no matter how well trained the animal is, things don’t always go to plan, as Queen Camilla discovered last week.

Her Majesty The Queen invited a group of medical sniffer dogs and their trainers to her home Clarence Housewhere Labrador Maggie was instructed to present her with a gift basket.

But Maggie forgot her manners that day and instead grumpily dropped it at Camilla’s feet, much to her amusement.

Here, CLAUDIA CONNELL looks at some of the royal family’s other beastly encounters in the line of duty…

PUPPY LOVE…

Catherine, William and their children are big dog lovers and have a lively pet cocker spaniel called Orla, who often appears with the family in official portraits.

Kate was undoubtedly used to boisterous dog behavior and took it all in stride when she met therapy puppy Alfie at Clitheroe Community Hospital in 2022. The 10-week-old cockapoo squirmed in Kate’s arms and tried to lick her face, but she still found him. so sweet,” and added, “our dog will be very upset.”

ROOT AND LICK

Kate and William took nine-month-old Prince George with them when they visited Sydney’s Taronga Zoo during a tour of Australia in 2014.

However, they wisely gave him to a babysitter when it was time to feed carrots to a giant giraffe. From the look on his face, William seemed stunned to learn that not only is a giraffe’s neck super long – their tongues are also 20 inches long!

AM I BOVVERD?

Long before the late Queen Elizabeth had tea with Paddington bear, Kate and William met Leuca the koala bear during a state visit to Australia in 2014.

Kate stroked and tickled Leuca and even sniffed his fur to see if he smelled of eucalyptus.

Koalas are notoriously laid-back and lazy, as the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge discovered when Leuca showed no interest in them.

TRUNK CALLS HER MAJESTY

“Nice to meet you, Your Majesty.” It is estimated that the late queen shook hands with almost a million people during her reign, but this was probably the only time she was presented with a suitcase.

Donna the elephant wasn’t actually looking for a handshake at all, she was much more interested in the bananas the Queen and Duke were holding when they visited Whipsnade Zoo in 2017.

THE OUTLOOK IS WARM… AND WET

There aren’t many women who enjoy having their makeup licked by a giant dog.

However, as a Guardian of Guide Dogs, Sophie is used to such enthusiastic greetings when she visits training centers across the country. Here she receives a very warm and wet welcome during a visit to Forfar in 2019

PAWS FOR BREATH?

Sophie and her family have two dogs and a tortoise who, according to Prince Edward, “basically runs the house.”

It was an adorable golden retriever puppy who was in charge of Sophie when she visited the Guide Dogs National Training Center in 2021, when she wisely donned a lab coat to protect her clothes from the playful pups.

SCRATCH PERFORMANCE

Corgis were the late queen’s favorite dog, with her believed to have raised more than 30 during her reign.

When the Queen visited a residential site in Darwin in 1977, she met an Australian corgi owned by some locals.

While the people were on their best behavior, the little dog displayed very ill-mannered behavior when he sniffed the queen’s feet and promptly fell on them to scratch.

DO-EYE BURNLER

“Don’t trip me, there’s a deer.”

In 2008, Charles and Camilla (then the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall) visited Todaji Temple in Nara, Japan, where hundreds of wild deer roam the estate. They were certainly a lot smaller and cuter than the giant beasts that roamed Balmoral.

BARKEN CRAZY

Queen Camilla is so in love with her two rescue dogs Bluebell and Beth that she embroidered Jack Russell Terrier faces on her coronation dress.

Charles and Camilla adopted the dogs from the home of Battersea Cats and Dogs, of which she is a patron. As this photo of Charles taken in 2022 with Beth shows, he’s just as in love – although he failed to get them embroidered onto his coronation robes.

TERRIER-FIED – NO FEAR!

Afraid of a terrier? Not Queen Camilla!

She attended the Great Yorkshire Show in 2021 and presented a rosette to some terrier pups, who couldn’t wait to get their muddy paws on it… and also came dangerously close to soiling Camilla’s polka dot dress.

I’ll show you mine…

‘Eyes to the camera and smile’, no one could accuse this horse of not cooperating with the press call.

An enthusiastic and skilled rider herself, Camilla attended the International Horse Show at Olympia in December 2008 and met many of the competing horses… but none of them left such a lasting impression as this scene-stealing gray – despite his teeth were in need of a very good cleaning!

Regal REPTILE

You know how to handle dogs and horses, but what the heck do you do with a Tuatara lizard? The royal couple met the native creature during their tour of New Zealand in 2015.

Camilla decided not to hold the reptile, but Charles’ fear of holding the slippery creature only made her burst out laughing.