CORNWALL’S royal visit week has gone without a glitch and everyone has loved it — even Prince Charles and Camilla.

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall were in the Duchy last week as part of a three-day royal visit to promote environmental issues, farming, new technologies and see community groups and innovators who help make our county great.

Every year the royal couple spend several days in the Duchy to speak to charities, community groups and to see for themselves the innovation, new technologies and skills which are being developed here.

Chris Hawkins, chairman of the St Tudy community shop committee, which Charles and Camilla visited on day three of their tour, summarised the mood across Cornwall.

“It went very well. I think they enjoyed it. They said they did. The royal couple were relaxed and truly put everyone at ease. They were very approachable and spoke to everyone like normal people. It was an honour to meet them.”

The royal couple are known for their fondness for Cornwall, a part of the UK that is dear to them. Charles is the Duke of Cornwall after all and the Royal Duchy of Cornwall covers much of the county.

This week’s visit focused on the region’s local businesses, from the artisan producers who help bolster the area’s food and drink sector to innovative firms such as Finisterre in St Agnes, which creates sustainable outdoor clothing made with Merino wool and recycled ocean plastic.

Prince Charles and Camilla started the three-day tour in Fowey on Monday, July 16 where the town’s annual festival got under way.

The royal couple, who appeared very relaxed and cheerful, were shown round the town, spoke to the local RNLI boat crew and named a new gig boat before being treated to a spot of gig rowing on the river.

The three-day visit is the couple’s third to Cornwall this year after they both attended the Royal Cornwall Show and Prince Charles visited Truro Cathedral and unveiled a new school on the outskirts of Newquay in the spring.

His Royal Highness and the Duchess of Cornwall later flew in a helicopter to the north coast of Cornwall for the second public engagement of the day and to meet environmental campaigners Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and pioneering surfing cloth-ing brand Finisterre at Wheal Kitty in St Agnes.

The visit coincided with the one-day Ocean Plastic Solutions Day conference which was all about the solutions to ocean plastic pollution, a topic Prince Charles has shown great interest in for many years.

Later on, the Duchess travelled on her own to Lostwithiel where she met with the Cornwall Community Foundation at the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery to mark the charity’s 15th anniversary.

The couple later rejoined on the Isles of Scilly for day two of their tour.

Day three of the royal visit saw the couple fly back to the mainland to the village of St Tudy.

The couple was met outside the Community Village Shop, which was saved from closure by the village itself in 2012 and is now thriving as a village hub and local produce shop, by parish council officials, the entire primary school with children waving the Union Flag and a duet of clarinetists from the Cornwall Youth Wind Orchestra.

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall heard about how the shop was saved by its own community thanks to funding from the Prince’s Countryside Trust.

The couple visited the community-run village shop and met the volunteers who staff the shop before officially opening the shop’s new extension.

Charles, who was wearing a beige suit with striped tie and Camilla, who wore a cream coloured dress with white polka dots, looked at the local Cornish produce the shop sells and spoke to some of the producers behind the gin, cider and honey they tasted.

At one point, Charles pointed to a giant pasty, which had been prepared and shared a joke with local volunteers.

Meanwhile Camilla had a giggle when she spotted the cover of the Hello magazine on the magazine rack inside the shop. She looked at the photograph which portrays the whole royal family celebrating the christening of Prince Louis and said: “Oh look it’s me.”

George Malde, co-director of Rock Gin which was only established in December and ran out of its first batch in June, said he offered Prince Charles the very first bottle his distillery ever produced, numbered 001, batch 1.

He said the Duke of Cornwall asked him what is in the gin. Mr Malde said: “Every gin has juniper and coriander but ours has lemon and grapefruit peels and liquorice.

“When the duke tried it neat he said he liked the liquorice coming through. I offered him some of our gin with Fever Tree tonic and he loved the citrus taste.”

Camilla was given a little posy of flowers by local pre-school girls Willow Farqharson, four, and Elizabeth Libby, three, while Charles received a drawing from Halle Cornford, four.

Willow said: “She asked me my age and said she loves the flowers. It’s the first time I’ve seen her.”

The royal couple was offered a hamper of goodies full of local produce after unveiling a special plaque marking the visit.

Karen Roberts, the community shop manager, said: “It was a great honour to receive them to our shop. Charles was impressed with our shop and its work. It keeps the community together and provides a service for older people who may live in isolation.”

Ivy Bastard, 72, has worked in the community shop for 58 years. She spoke to both royals as they toured the community shop.

Ivy who lives across the street in a house with lots of flowers, said: “They both made me feel right at ease. They asked me how long I have worked here for. Charles was amazed by what we do here and how long I have worked here for.

“They were really friendly and relaxed.”

After speaking to more villagers and volunteers inside the village hall, the royal couple departed and flew out of the county to Honiton, thus putting an end to what was a fantastic three-date and six-event Cornish tour.