Sophie encounters ‘king of spiders’ on jungle trek in Peru

The Duchess of Edinburgh came face-to-face with the “king of spiders” in the Peruvian Amazon.

Sophie brought her hand to her chest, mouth and forehead and appeared nervous as she inspected the Goliath birdeater – the biggest tarantula in the world – during a jungle trek while on her tour of South and Central America.

The duchess looked at the large spider which was resting on top of a leaf held by one of the professional Amazon guides – before going on to hold the leaf herself as she peered down at the creature.

Sophie, who was joined by guides Rey Mozombite and Daniel Macedo, explored the dense forests and also took the chance to hold a green anaconda snake.

She was shown an enormous Oje tree, and stood among its twisted buttress roots looking up at the giant trunk during the biodiversity nature walk.

The duchess is on a 10-day official visit to South and Central America.

She is travelling to Peru, Panama and Guatemala at the request of the Foreign Office, and also to Belize – one of the King’s overseas realms.

The duchess, wearing a short-sleeved, white, floral blouse, green trousers and black wellies, also spotted a sloth resting in the trees as she made her way through the jungle.

She took out her mobile phone to take photos of the animal as it curled itself around the branches.

The National Geographic describes the Goliath birdeater as the largest arachnid on the planet.

Dubbed “the king of spiders”, it can weight up to 170g with a leg span of nearly 30cm, but its venom is not lethal to humans, only to small creatures.

It does not usually eat birds, only occasionally, preferring insects, frogs and rodents.