Queen Camilla Called a 'Real Character' After a Surprise Visit to Her Hometown Pub

The Queen recently visited The Half Moon pub in Plumpton, U.K., where she spent much of her childhood

NEED TO KNOW

• Queen Camilla recently visited The Half Moon pub in Plumpton, U.K., and posed for photos with locals
• As a child, the Queen, 78, divided her time between her family home in London and Plumpton
• Queen Camilla’s pub stop came on the same day as a visit to Ashdown Forest to commemorate 100 Years of Winnie-the-Pooh

You never know when Queen Camilla might stop in for a pint!

The Queen, 78, made a surprise visit to The Half Moon pub in Plumpton, in East Sussex, U.K. The royal was described as a “real character” during the visit, as she was seen posing at the pub in a photo posted on Facebook on Tuesday, July 7.

“Great to see HRH The Queen Camilla supporting another of Plumpton’s locals!!” Fountain Inn Purchase wrote on their Facebook page.

The Half Moon pub reposted the photo of the royal posing between two people, writing, “The Queen was talking about the Fountain! A real character and lovely to welcome her. Such a lovely lady!”

It was somewhat of a homecoming for Queen Camilla, who spent a significant portion of her childhood at the family's country estate in the village of Plumpton, though she was primarily raised in the South Kensington neighborhood of central London.

Queen Camilla's pub visit came on the same day as a special royal outing. The Queen visited Ashdown Forest in East Sussex to commemorate 100 Years of Winnie-the-Pooh, as the nature preserve was the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood in A.A. Milne's classic children's books.

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The Queen, who champions literacy as a key part of her royal work, visited the forest in her role as patron of the Royal Literary Fund.

There, she met children's authors, explored the forest with children and unveiled a trail named Queen's Walk. Camilla also cut a cake decorated to celebrate the milestone anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh.

According to the BBC, Queen Camilla commented that it was "very nice to be back in Sussex" and revealed she spent "a lot of time as a child" playing poohsticks, a game described in Winnie-the-Pooh books that involves dropping sticks into a river from one side of a bridge and racing to the other side, with the first stick to emerge the winner.

On Poohsticks Bridge, the royal played the game for herself, although her stick did not win.

During her visit to New York City in April, Queen Camilla gifted the New York Public Library with a Roo stuffed animal to complete the library's Winnie-the-Pooh collection.

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