Queen Camilla squeezed into a red telephone box with a group of giggling primary schoolchildren during a visit to Dulwich Picture Gallery as she officially opened the gallery’s new Artplay Pavilion and Sculpture Garden.
The queen consort, wearing a white Fiona Clare dress and silver high heels, was greeted on arrival by Simon Duckworth, the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for Southwark, and toured the site with Jennifer Scott, the gallery’s director. Her jewellery included several dainty gold chain bracelets and a Van Cleef & Arpels bangle featuring turquoise petals, a piece reported to retail for about £5,350. Staff and pupils laughed as she invited children to see whether they could all fit into the tiny booth before attempting a nearby bridge.
During the visit, Camilla departed from the planned programme to take part in the impromptu activity. Gallery officials showed how previously underused green spaces had been transformed into an outdoor learning area designed to engage young people with art through play and sculpture. The site features installations and a pavilion intended to host workshops and school visits that pair creative activities with the gallery’s collections.
The event forms part of the gallery’s broader outreach work to encourage art-based learning among local children. Gallery staff said the new spaces will be used for curriculum-linked projects and informal sessions aimed at making art accessible to younger audiences.
Onlookers described the scene as light-hearted and convivial. The visit highlighted the gallery’s efforts to combine public art, outdoor play and education in a single setting and underscored the institution’s role in community engagement in south-east London.