The Prince and Princess of Wales led the royals welcoming community heroes as they hosted a Buckingham Palace garden party today.

William and Kate had the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh accompany them at today’s event as well as Zara Tindall, even though she is not a working royal.

Zara has helped out at garden parties with cousin William for several years running, although not joining them were Princesses Beatrice or Eugenie, who have been at the events in previous years with the Waleses.

Around 8,000 guests were invited to today’s event – many of them connected to William and Kate’s patronages, military affiliations and passion projects.

At 4pm sharp, the group of royals emerged on the steps overlooking the palace gardens, where they stood and listened to the national anthem. Kate wore a new Self Portrait dress with a vintage hat as well as a bracelet from her own collection and earrings that belonged to the late Queen.

The Waleses were reunited with Southport dance teacher Leanne Lucas; who shielded children during the July 2024 knife attack and who they met last February during a visit to the town. Ms Lucas was critically injured in the attack in which three children, Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe lost their lives.

Prince William told her: “It takes a lot of courage to push forwards. You were so brave, you have got so much support.”

Ms Lucas told the Princess: “I was in such a dark place last time we met.”

She said afterwards of their conversation: “It was like meeting old friends again. We had such personal conversations last time we met. William wanted to keep an eye on my wellbeing, as well as chat about all the knife crime campaigning we’re doing.

“We have a campaign called Let’s Be Blunt looking at reducing knife harm. So he was really keen to know about what we’re doing there, but then checking in on how I am, how Heidi is, the other teacher, and things like that. So it was a nice conversation.”

She added: “Today is just magical. It’s a once in a lifetime experience, so I’m really honoured to even be invited, let alone get to see them again.

“Last time I met (the Princess), I was quite down, so she just said she was so happy to see me full of energy and passion and enthusiasm again and it’s so nice to see you back to the way that you should be and the way that you were before. It was nice.”

The Prince also caught up with Rhian Mannings, who welcomed him into her Cardiff home last year for an emotional conversation about the impact of suicide. In 2012, Ms Mannings suddenly lost the youngest of her three children, one-year-old George, to a hidden illness and then her husband, Paul, to suicide five days later.

She first met Prince William in 2017 when they were recorded in conversation for a short film to mark World Mental Health Day. Ms Mannings told him that “so many people reached out” to her after their most recent conversation was broadcast. The Prince apologised to her daughter for “invading” her home, adding: “it was a surprise for everyone I think.”

The couple also met Sam Stables, the founder of We Are Farming Minds, who works to break down the stigma surrounding mental health in the farming community. He has also previously met with William and Kate when they visited his farm in Herefordshire in 2023.

The Prince of Wales admitted he had “bags under the eyes” as he hosted a Buckingham Palace garden party the day after watching his beloved Aston Villa reach the Europa League final. The Princess, meanwhile, told guests that her husband “makes so much noise” when he watches his team on television as she revealed that she let her three children stay up to watch the game against Nottingham Forest on Thursday evening.

“They all make so much noise, even Louis,” she laughed. “They wanted to go to the match but we let them stay up and watch it.”

Elsewhere, the Princess spoke passionately about how much she enjoyed playing padel, although she admitted that tennis was her real love.

Chatting to representatives from the Lawn Tennis Association, she asked: “Have you adopted padel? “I love padel, it’s such a good game, such a great leveller for those who don’t play tennis.”

She told another guest: “Irs so sociable and all generations can play- I play with my parents.”

She also chatted to one lady about the family’s one-year-old puppy Otto, revealing that “unfortunately” he had “chewed quite a lot the other day”.

“You have to keep them busy,” she said. “The first thing we do in the morning is check ‘has anyone taken Otto out?’”

Meanwhile, other guests included young Air Cadets Rowan, Anna and Harry, who became the youngest trio to tackle the 3,000-mile “World’s Toughest Row” in January.

Garden parties have been held at Buckingham Palace since the 1860s, when Queen Victoria began what were known as “breakfasts”, although they took place in the afternoon.

Guests queue in tea tents and take their seats on nearby chairs, and around 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of cake are consumed at each party.

Yeomen of the Guard, dressed in their red and gold ceremonial costumes, form part of the proceedings, and people are free to stroll around the vast expanse of the gardens while a military band plays background music.