King Charles and Queen Camilla Lean Away From Eagle at 2015 Sandringham Show

Hello magazine has published an account of King Charles III and Queen Camilla leaning away from a bald eagle at the Sandringham Flower Show in 2015. The eagle, named Zephyr, flapped and stretched its wings close to the couple, who were photographed bending back with their eyes shut.

At the time, Charles was the Prince of Wales and Camilla was the Duchess of Cornwall, the titles they held before his accession to the throne in 2022. Zephyr was the mascot of the Army Air Corps, the British Army's aviation arm, which brought the bird to the Norfolk event.

Hello's report quotes Charles joking about the encounter: "That's why I'm not holding him. I've learnt from experience. I'm keeping well back." The bird was not in his hands at any point in the moment captured on camera, and he kept his distance from it, as his remark suggests.

Some media outlets later described the pair as having been "almost attacked" by the eagle. Clarence House, the office that supports Charles and Camilla's household, told The Telegraph: "I think the pictures are more dramatic than it actually was."

The pictures are the reason the moment has travelled. A bird with a wingspan of around two metres, close enough to make a royal couple lean back, makes a striking image, and the photographs did most of the work. The household's answer is a short one. It says the scene looked more alarming on the page than it felt on the ground.

The Sandringham Flower Show is an annual summer event held on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the King and Queen's household is based. Royal visits to county shows like it are a long-standing part of the Royal Family's public calendar. Such events often bring guests face to face with animals, machinery and displays that are not part of a formal programme.