Duchess of Cornwall pays royal visit to National Stud in Newmarket

The National Stud welcomed a special guest on Thursday, as the Duchess of Cornwall visited the Newmarket operation for the first time since being appointed its first ever patron last November.

The visit began at Wavertree House where the Duchess was greeted by a delegation of officials, including the stud's chairman the Duke of Roxburghe and managing director Tim Lane, whose five-year-old son Archie presented the royal visitor with a bouquet of flowers.

From there the Duchess was taken to the foaling unit, where she met with students undertaking the stud's diploma course in stud practice and management. Five of the nursery's resident mares were paraded with their foals at foot, including Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf heroine Dank - who has a Dubawi colt - and Temple Stakes winner Priceless - who was accompanied by her Dubawi filly.

The Duchess was also shown three mares with foals by the stud's resident stallion Time Test, including the Grade 1-winning Jostle and Royal Rascal, whose colt foal was in exuberant mood.

The Duchess Of Cornwall meets one of the National Stud's resident maresCredit: Amy Lanigan

The final stop before the Duchess headed for lunch at the Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket town centre was the newly renovated stallion unit. All three of the stud's resident stallions - namely Aclaim, Rajasinghe and Time Test - were paraded by head stallion man Paddy Meehan.

"It was an absolute honour to show the horses to the Duchess," said Meehan, who has served at the National Stud for 18 years. "I've met several heads of state, including Her Majesty the Queen, who was here a few years ago.

"You can get a bit nervous but that's to be expected and the Duchess put me quite at ease. She was ever so pleasant and asked me about the stallions. Thankfully the horses are all so good-natured and they've paraded so many times that they all behaved impeccably.

"Although I was the one showing the stallions I must stress it's been a real team effort, and we have a great team here. It gives everyone here a buzz, from the staff to the students."

The Duchess of Cornwall feeds Time Test a carrotCredit: Amy Lanigan

The Duchess was introduced to all three stallions and fed each of them mints she had brought especially, although Time Test rather turned his nose up, meaning an emergency replacement carrot had to be drafted in.

The Duchess, a keen horsewoman who has owned horses in training with the likes of Ralph Beckett and Jamie Snowden, also planted a tree outside the stallion unit alongside the one planted by the Queen during her visit to the National Stud to mark its centenary in 2015.

Behind the scenes as the breeding season begins at the National Stud