Queen Camilla received an unexpected gift that would have left King Charles shuddering.
A day ahead of her birthday, the Queen attended a garden party at HMS Drake in Devon on Wednesday, July 16. There, Commander Chris Bate of HMS Astute presented her with a roll of cling film mounted on a wooden stand, complete with a gold plaque.
The inscription read: "Clingfilm keeping nuclear submarines at sea.”
The unusual item was a nod to Commander Bates’ crew once using the everyday household item to keep a nuclear vessel operational.
The gift was presented moments after Camilla was officially named the vessel’s Lady Sponsor — a new honorary role given in recognition of her “high regard” within the Royal Navy.
The Queen, who turns 77 on Thursday, appeared amused by the quirky gesture, reportedly remarking, “There’s nothing more useful, brilliant, how wonderful,” per The Independent.
But for some royal watchers, the gift was also a callback to King Charles’s infamous aversion to cling film.
As royal author Christopher Andersen previously claimed in his 2018 book The Rebel Prince about Prince Philip, Charles once “shrieked” and “trembled” after seeing cling film for the first time, per Express.