King meets cow on Clarence House lawns during charity reception

The King scratched the nose of a cow on the lawns of Clarence House during a charity reception.

Tuesday’s event celebrated Waitrose contributing £50 million to the King Charles III Charitable Fund (KCCF) by selling its Duchy Organic products.

The KCCF has used the funds to support UK and international charity initiatives, including one supporting people at risk of reoffending by offering them the facilities to make music, and another that brings dogs to meet elderly people in their homes, care homes and medical buildings in the North East.

Charles scratched the nose of Poppy, a 20-month-old Sussex pedigree breeding cow, and her handler told the King: “It’s an absolute honour to be here, thank you so much for what you do for young farmers.”

The brown-haired animal was held on a leash by Leighton Snelgrove, a 26-year-old organic beef farmer, and it started to back away across the lawn shortly after he thanked the royal.

Charles, wearing sunglasses and a blue pin-striped suit, pointed and laughed at Poppy before turning to face the line of reporters and saying: “Don’t push her through my box hedge.”

During the reception, the King also spoke to a man who went on to write and release music with the Finding Rhythms charity after leaving prison.

Charles asked Lenox K, who spent two years in prison for a drugs offence, “what happened to you?”

Lenox K, whose stage name is JD, told the King his backstory and recommended he listen to his music on Spotify, which Charles agreed to do.

At the close of the conversation he tapped the 27-year-old on the arm and said “well done”.

Lenox K then told the PA news agency: “He was kind of just impressed to see the improvement that I’ve personally made from my past life to now.”

The King also encouraged him to “influence” his peers “positively”.

The rap artist, who has expressed himself through music from a young age, added: “I recommended that (Charles) goes on Spotify and Apple Music to have a listen – he said he would.”

The Finding Rhythms programme that is supported by the KCCF has its own music studio in Peckham, south London.

The King went on to explore a timeline of how the Duchy Organic brand has evolved.

It included its latest packaging rebrand to save 20 tonnes of plastic each year, and Charles told staff: “I hear it’s gone down quite well”.

He advised staff on the fruit and vegetable stand how to ripen pears, saying: “Do you know something I discovered recently? If you put a pear in a paper bag with a banana it keeps it soft.”

Charles greeted senior staff, including Jason Tarry, the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, and Waitrose’s outgoing managing director, James Bailey, who gave a speech.

Addressing the King, Mr Bailey said “what a glorious setting to celebrate this remarkable achievement for you, Sir – Duchy Originals was your idea and your creation”, which he described as “good farming producing good food, with sales supporting good causes”.

“35 years on from that first, often-mentioned, oat biscuit – which is still a mainstay of the brand – Duchy is still thriving and delivering your original ambition”.

After waving the knife in the air, the King cut a fruitcake made with Duchy Organic products.

The Waitrose Duchy Organic partnership has allowed the KCCF to award more than 1,600 grants in 20 countries, supporting more than 400,000 people.