Queen Camilla meets Gladiator Nitro (Image: Getty)
appeared composed as she greeted one of BBC’s gladiators during a reception tonight at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen – – welcomed finalists, judges and celebrity readers at King Charles’ London residence to celebrate the final of ‘s 500 Words competition for young writers.
Camilla , otherwise known as Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, in a formal line-up during the event, which was also attended by other celebrities, including Olivia Colman, Danny Jones, Tom Fletcher, Matt Lucas and Rose Ayling-Ellis.
She has supported the writing competition – which encourages children of all abilities from across the UK to write and this year received almost 44,000 entries – since 2015.
During today’s reception, the Queen was left giggling as she was told by the One Show’s Alex Jones: “This is Harry, but you might know him as Gladiator Nitro.
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Queen Camilla hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace today (Image: Getty)
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The scantily-clad star told the royal with a bow: “It’s so lovely to meet you.”
Camilla told him: “The children were so thrilled to be escorted off by a Gladiator” to which he replied: “We seem to have such a rapport with these young children, which is amazing.”
The Queen added: “They will probably remember that more than they will be winning a medal. Well, thank you very much indeed.”
It was not the first time the star was invited to the Palace.
He revealed that the first time was sometime in 2010 to meet the late Queen Elizabeth, after he was selected as a member of Team GB as an Olympian sprinter for the World Championships in Athletics.
The star said: “I met the late Queen as Harry here in this room. I was invited here in 2010ish to highlight my achievements on behalf of the ethnic minorities.
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Queen Camilla was dressed in black and blue (Image: Getty)
He joked: “I was dressed well. To be fair, I did come [today] dressed correctly, and once I got here, they told me [to put on the costume].
“I thought gosh, surely I must be the least dressed man in this room. I’ve added to the history.”
But he added that Camilla did not “even blink” when she saw him, saying: “She wasn’t surprised. I guess it’s 2025 and we are welcoming all sorts into the house!”
Young Bond author and competition judge Charlie Higson quipped that Buckingham Palace had not seen such a pair of shiny pants “since the Stewarts”.
He said: “I often wonder how I would have turned out if smartphones and tablets and all those things had been around when I was growing up. I spent all my time writing. It’s so encouraging and exciting to see kids still write stories and still enjoy stories. The Queen is genuinely passionate about it. It makes a special event even more special. “
Today, before the final, Camilla met executives, hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp, and judges comedian Sir Lenny Henry, screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Noughts And Crosses writer Malorie Blackman, Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon and Mr Higson.
The Queen hosted the event to celebrate the final of BBC’s 500 Words (Image: Getty)
The Queen presented the medals and the winners will be announced during a special episode of the ‘s The One Show on March 6, World Book Day.
The young finalists had their entries read in the palace’s ballroom by the group of celebrities, who met Camilla after the final.
Camilla chatted about with Fletcher, who told her he had competed in the same year as Ayling-Ellis, but “didn’t do quite as well”.
Speaking to Lucas, the Queen praised the “fantastic” stories the children had written, and he replied: “I need to up my game as a writer, I’m very fearful,” adding “they’re all going to overtake me”.
Camilla said she hoped the children would keep on writing.
After the recording of the final in the ballroom, she hosted a reception in the picture gallery.
Since the competition was launched in 2011, by Chris Evans on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, it has received more than one million stories from children throughout the UK.
The judges, with new judge, singer Olivia Dean, came together previously at Buckingham Palace, chaired by The One Show’s Alex Jones, to read the stories and deliberate on the finalists.
The ceremony celebrated the achievements of six winners from two age categories, five to seven and eight to 11, with recognition given to gold, silver, and bronze recipients in each group.