An unexpected patient awaited King Charles and Queen Camilla during their visit to London Zoo on Thursday.
The pair were found crouched next to Lannister, a Humboldt penguin, as they joined zoo veterinarian Stefan Saverimuttu for a routine health check.
Charles appears in a celebratory mood during the visit, which comes amid Harry’s special engagement in Birmingham.
Rebecca English shared a video on Instagram showing the King and Queen listening carefully to heartbeats with colorful stethoscopes.
King Charles used a red one, while Queen Camilla performed her own examination with a blue instrument as the calm bird perched patiently on a rock.
Their visit was part of the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) 200th anniversary celebrations, where the royal spent time learning about the charity’s conservation work and meeting some of the zoo’s best-loved residents.
Veterinarian Stefan Saverimuttu said Lannister had been the perfect patient.
“Lannister sounded perfect and Lannister was very good to the King and Queen,” he said.
He also praised their confidence saying, “They were both really excited about them.”
Penguins have quite a large beak, so if you’ve never met one before, they can be a little intimidating, but neither the King nor Queen were intimidated in the least.
They went right in, tried it, and did it very well.
King Charles smiled and described the penguins as “very endearing.” He also met Polly, a Galapagos tortoise, and offered her some snacks.
When Polly seemed unimpressed by the monarch’s offering, Charles jokingly asked his keeper if the turtle was on a “diet.”
