Duchess Sophie joins King Charles and Queen Camilla at special Windsor Castle performance

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Transcript

00:00 The Duchess of Edinburgh was among the royals to join the King and Queen at a special Windsor

00:04 Castle reception on Tuesday evening.

00:13 Charles, 74, and Camilla, 76, watched moving performances from Shakespeare's plays as they

00:19 marked the Bard's contribution to the life and culture of the nation.

00:30 Their Majesties were also accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and a host

00:34 of the country's leading actors, including Dame Judi Dench and Helena Bonham Carter.

00:46 Performances are being staged this year to mark the 400th anniversary of the first printed

00:50 edition of Shakespeare's collection of plays, commonly referred to by modern scholars as

00:55 the First Folio.

01:03 It was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death and is a collection of

01:08 36 of the Bard's works, compiled by his fellow friends and actors, John Hemming and Henry

01:13 Condell.

01:20 A copy of the First Folio, which is held in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, was on

01:25 display during the reception, with the King and Queen seen looking at the rare manuscript

01:30 after the performance.

01:39 Queen Camilla, who celebrated her birthday on Monday, looked elegant in a cobalt blue

01:43 dress with ruffled sleeves, while sister-in-law Sophie was dressed in a navy dress with a

01:48 gold-patterned motif.

01:57 Taking to the stage to read extracts from Macbeth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Twelfth

02:02 Night, Antony and Cleopatra and the Tempest was a small ensemble of actors, including

02:07 Ray Fioran, a former Coronation Street star, Lucy Phelps, Sir Simon Russell Beale and Dame

02:13 Harriet Walter.

02:21 After the performance, Lucy Phelps joked the issue was the acting royalty in the first

02:25 few rows, and not Charles and Camilla.

02:35 She said, "I thought it was going to be a bit like Strictly, Come Dancing, with Judi

02:39 Dench holding up a card with a number seven on it.

02:49 Just with all those actors in the room with us who have played those parts, that was the

02:53 thing."

03:00 As Prince of Wales, Charles became president of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1991 and

03:05 is known to take a keen interest in Shakespeare, having performed in plays whilst at university.

03:17 In 2016, Charles visited New Place, Shakespeare's last home in Stratford upon Avon and also

03:23 joined renowned theatre actors on stage at Stratford to perform Hamlet as part of Shakespeare

03:28 Live.

03:29 From the RSC.

03:37 See highlights from his visit in the clip below

03:39 [clip]