Queen and Duchess (and a robot) on first joint royal visit
THE Queen and the Duchess of Cambridge yesterday enjoyed their first public joint engagement as a royal double act as they were welcomed to King’s College London by a friendly robot.
The Queen and her grand-daughter-in-law spent the morning on a tour to open the college’s new Bush House.
Among the many hands they were invited to shake was one belonging to a robot trained to mimic human behaviour, with the Duchess telling it: “Very nice to meet you.” The Queen beamed as she was shown how it worked.
It was the first time the Duchess has accompanied the Queen on an engagement as a pair outside palace walls. They have previously undertaken a select handful of joint engagements, but have always been joined by other members of the family in public.
In 2011, they visited the Duchess’s wedding dress exhibition together within the walls of Buckingham Palace, and in 2014 hosted a night in celebration of the UK’S dramatic arts there.
In 2012, during visits to Leicester and Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly, they were joined by the Duke of Edinburgh and Duchess of Cornwall respectively. Yesterday, the Queen and Duchess of Cambridge were among familiar faces, hosted by Lord Geidt, the Queen’s former private secretary who is chairman of King’s College London.
The visit ended in a new auditorium where the Queen, who is patron of the university, unveiled a plaque to formally open Bush House.
The Duchess went on to a second engagement, as she was announced as the patron of the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury, central London, and spoke about the importance of the arts.