Queen Camilla reveals she does ‘Silver Swans’ dance classes for seniors during a visit to The English National Ballet in east London

Queen Camilla announced today during a visit to The English National Ballet in East London that she is taking part in the ‘Silver Swans’ senior dance classes.

The 77-year-old queen, who is the organization’s patron, said she is not only a lover of dance “in whatever form” but also makes a foray into ballet herself. She gave a short speech on the occasion of the company’s 75th anniversary.

But when she became fascinated by the ballerinas’ rehearsals, she joked, “The ladies today would rather show me what I can do.”

Silver Swans are organised by the Royal Academy of Dance and are specially designed dance classes for older people.

The royal family had braved the rainy weather to attend rehearsals at the Mulryan Centre For Dance on the Leamouth Peninsula, near Canning Town station. It was her first visit since becoming patron.

After removing her umbrella, she was welcomed by Sir Rupert Gavin, chairman of The English National Ballet, and introduced to artistic director Aaron S. Watkin.

Queen Camilla wore a pale blue silk dress by London-based designer Anna Valentine and accessorised her outfit with a gold and red brooch.

She wore a number of gold and silver bracelets on her right wrist and what appeared to be a royal blue woven friendship bracelet on her left wrist.

The Queen, who stressed how ‘proud’ she was to be patron of the English National Ballet, completed her look with a pair of cream and black round-toe pumps.

In an informal speech delivered over a huge birthday cake celebrating the company’s 75th anniversary, she said: “I love ballet. In any form, I love dance.”

She explained that she was also a patron of ballet schools, adding: ‘I do a bit of Silver Swans myself. The ladies today prefer to show me. I love it.

“It’s very exciting to be able to say that I am a patron.”

Queen Camilla then wished the ballet company “a very happy 75th birthday” and said: “I hope to see you many more times in the future. Enjoy the cake.”

During her visit, the Queen watched in admiration as a ballerina rehearsed in a studio and spoke to staff members.

She also had to deal with what appeared to be a dress rehearsal, with a pair of dancers performing impressive lifts.

English National Ballet performs throughout the UK and internationally, bringing world-class ballet to the widest possible audience.

Earlier this week, Queen Camilla spoke of the “joy” reading can bring to children as she hosted an event to mark the 70th anniversary of a leading UK book charity.

Book Aid International’s anniversary reception at St James’s Palace in London was attended by around 100 guests, including the charity’s chairman Nigel Newton and Lady Caroline Simmonds, the founder’s daughter.

Camilla has been a patron of the charity since 2022 and launched her own online book club in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since its founding in 1954, Book Aid International has sent more than 37 million books to schools, libraries, prisons and refugee camps around the world.

In an impromptu speech after addressing the guests individually, Camilla spoke about the “really, really big difference” the accessibility of books makes to people’s lives.

She said: ‘I wasn’t really expecting to be speaking tonight. There’s not much more I can say, other than a huge thank you to everyone who supports Book Aid.

‘I have visited many countries during my travels and I have been to libraries that have called upon Boekenhulp. I have seen the joy on the faces of the children when they received these books.

‘And if we can continue to do this all over the world, we’re going to make a huge, huge difference to people reading books, children getting access to books – and that’s really thanks to Book Aid and all of you here who have made this possible. So thank you very much.’

The Queen looked elegant at the reception in a striking green dress with a peacock feather pattern.

The charity was founded in 1954 by the Countess of Ranfurly as a library for local children in the Bahamas. She visited the island with her husband, the Governor, and was ‘shocked’ by the lack of reading material available.

This book programme was extended to the Commonwealth in 1956 as the Ranfurly Library Service and was renamed Book Aid International in 1994.

Lord Boateng, vice patron of Book Aid International, said access to Lady Ranfurly’s library had ‘changed my life’.

“Book Aid International, then the Countess Ranfurly’s Library Trust, changed my life,” he told the audience.

‘I was a little boy growing up in the Gold Coast, which became Ghana, and Book Aid International provided the books and trained the librarians for the first dedicated children’s library in sub-Saharan Africa. I went to that library when I was six, seven years old. And it changed my life.’

The Labour MP said the books would “support their ambitions” and give children “a sense of the possibilities” they have.

As Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip was the royal patron of Book Aid International from 1966 until his death in 2021.

Poet and novelist Sir Ben Okri, who was invited to the reception as a key supporter of the charity, said that books “help people feed their minds, feed their souls, encourage them, open up possibilities, deepen their thinking and free them from stress and anxiety”.

He said: ‘The Queen is one of the great evangelists of the power of books and the power of reading. And it’s a very special thing because it’s not normally a very glamorous area – books are very private things, you read them all by yourself.

“And the Queen highlighting the power of reading is absolutely astonishing and invaluable for our times.”

Other guests invited to the hour-long event included presenter David Dimbleby, actor Neil Pearson, author Ken Follet and publisher Sigrid Rausing.