Beaming King Charles sports shades as he poses next to pedigree cow – and scratches its snout

The King saw the funny side as a prize-winning cow knocked over a table and stamped one of his royal hedges during a reception today.

Pedigree Sussex cow Poppy was one of the stars of an event at Clarence House, His Majesty’s London residence, held to mark £50 million in Duchy Originals sales given to charity.

Charles formed the organic food brand in 1990 using produce from his Highgrove estate before being taken over by Waitrose in 2009, with a proportion of profits going to charities supported by the King Charles III Charitable Fund (KCCF).

More than 1,000 organisations have benefitted from the scheme.

Charles, 76, who donned sunglasses for the party, was introduced to Poppy and her handler Leighton Snelgrove, 26, who thanked the King ‘for all you do for young farmers’.

The breeding cow, which has won multiple prizes at country shows, then made the King laugh as she knocked over a small table and crashed into a low hedge.

Leighton said to the King: ‘Sorry about your garden.’

Turning round, the King, smiling and looking relaxed at the antics, said to other guests: ‘Don’t push her back into my boxed hedge.’

Charles beamed as he posed next to a pedigree Sussex beef cow during a reception for his charitable trust fund this afternoon

Minutes later after he walked away to speak to other guests Poppy then urinated on the pathway.

Speaking afterwards, Leighton, of Black Ven Farm, Uckfield, East Sussex said: ‘She was amazing and thoroughly enjoyed it and it was great to talk to him about farming.

‘I said thank you for everything you do for young farmers. The King has been a huge support and enthusiasm to young farmers.’

Asked about Poppy’s run-in with the hedges, Leighton said: ‘I didn’t want footprints over his lawn. He said it’s fine don’t worry about it

‘He’s an inspiration to younger generations.’

The King held the reception to mark 35 years since establishing Duchy Originals to support sustainable farming and provide a market for organic goods from small farmers.

Among the charities present who have benefited from funds raised by the brand were the Soil Association, Prince’s Trust International, Coast, BirdLife International, Plantlife, and The King’s Foundation.

The King also met Mex, nine , a cockerpoo, and Monty, a 20-month-old Australian labradoodle, from Wag & Company, which sends dogs into care homes to help elderly people combat loneliness.

Sporting some shades, the monarch, 76, grinned as he proudly stood by the farm animal at Clarence House, hosting representatives from charities and organisations that have benefited from the fund via its partnership with Waitrose Duchy Organic

And he viewed new Duchy Originals product ranges and eco-friendly packaging.

In a speech, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir Kenneth Olisa, said: ‘The £50 million raised to date has had a profound and far reaching impact towards transforming lives and building sustainable communities.’

James Bailey, Waitrose executive director, also gave a speech saying the organic initiative carries out an ‘enormous amount of good.’

And said the Duchy brand will ‘continue to fulfil the organic wish’.

Charles finished the engagement by cutting a Waitrose fruit cake and waving the knife in the air, saying: ‘I hope you enjoy the cake!’

The royal, whose mother the late Queen Elizabeth II was well-known for her love of cows, appeared to be in high spirits during the event.

The King’s fund, KCCF, has been supporting community initiatives across the UK for some 40 years, investing more than £100 million into causes.

It awards grants for projects on environment, countryside, social inclusion, health and wellbeing, heritage and conservation and education. 

‘Throughout all our work we endeavour to maximise charitable impact, drawing on our funding and convening power to leverage further support from others,’ its site shared.

‘And to deliver this well, we ensure our governance and management are fit for purpose and in line with best practice.

It’s a wholesome start to the week for Charles, who over the weekend shared his fears over the harmful impact social media is having on young people and the difficulties combating it, according to a cleric.

The monarch discussed the issue with Church of Scotland Minister Reverend Tommy MacNeil at Balmoral Castle following a Sunday service at nearby Crathie Kirk.

He outlined his concerns about the risks that online platforms can pose to young people during the 40-minute discussion at the royal residence.

‘He was very concerned about the negative impact social media was having on young people in so many ways,’ Reverend MacNeil said.

‘He really understood the problems and the difficulties involved in combating them.

‘King Charles was clearly very concerned about the whole issue and negative influences on young people from social media.

‘It is almost impossible to police social media, so we need to find ways to combat that.’

Charles has previously spoken about how platforms online can harm children’s mental health.

During a speech at the Prince’s Trust Invest in Futures event in 2019, he said it makes young people feel ‘inadequate’ because they often compare themselves to ‘other people they see on social media’.

Charles and Reverend MacNeil also spoke about the work The Shed Project does in helping youngsters in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.

‘We spoke for 40 minutes and the King was clearly well briefed about The Shed and what we are doing,’ the cleric, whose normal congregation is at Martin’s Memorial Church, added.

‘He was very engaged and 100 per cent appreciative of the work we are doing. Young people today and growing up in a different world to their parents.

‘The stuff they are accessing on their phones is frightening.’

Reverend MacNeil and his wife Donna were invited to Balmoral after he provided a sermon in front of the King and Queen Camilla at Crathie Kirk.

Of his experience with Charles, he said: ‘It was a great honour and he is a wonderful, clearly caring person.

‘I think Crathie Kirk must be the most prayed church in the Church of Scotland so that helped me overcome my nervousness.’

In April, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex called for stronger protections for children from the dangers of social media, saying ‘enough is not being done’.

Prince Harry and Meghan unveiled a memorial in New York City which is dedicated to the memory of children whose families believe harmful material online contributed to their deaths.

‘We want to make sure that things are changed so that… no more kids are lost to social media,’ Prince Harry told BBC Breakfast in New York.

‘Life is better off social media,’ he added, saying that he was ‘grateful’ that his children were still too young to be online.

‘The easiest thing to say is to keep your kids away from social media,’ Prince Harry said at an Archewell Foundation event in New York.

‘The sad reality is the kids who aren’t on social media normally get bullied at school because they can’t be part of the same conversation as everybody else.’

The royal said tech firms were ‘getting away with it’ by arguing they didn’t need to disclose information to UK families because of privacy considerations.

‘You are telling a parent, you are telling a dad and a mum that they can’t have the details of what their kid was up to on social media because of the privacy of their kid. It’s wrong,’ he said.

Prince William has also championed social media protection through two major initiatives: the Stop, Speak, Support campaign to combat cyberbullying and a social media boycott to protest online abuse in British sports.

He has publicly criticised social media companies for not adequately addressing issues like fake news and hate speech, advocating for them to prioritise user safety and implement better systems for reporting abuse.

New online safety rules, which came into effect in July, require platforms to take action to stop children seeing illegal and harmful material.