King in shades braves heat to visit London zoo

Britain's head of state King Charles III on Thursday donned sunglasses as he braved a heatwave to visit penguins and a giant tortoise at London Zoo.

Wearing his usual pinstripe suit with a pair of reflective shades, Charles watched his wife Queen Camilla feed a plant to Polly, a 32-year-old giant Galapagos tortoise, as crowds cheered.

The king and queen also used stethoscopes to listen to the heartbeat of a Humboldt penguin, while gently holding the bird, as other penguins strolled on a mock beach area nearby and swam in a pool.

"Lannister sounded perfect and Lannister was very well behaved for the king and the queen," zoo vet Stefan Saverimuttu said, referring to the penguin who got a health check.

"Penguins have a bit of a beak on them so I think if you've never met one before, they might be a bit intimidating, but neither the king or the queen was intimidated in the slightest."

Charles said the birds were "very endearing". 

The royals were visiting because the conservation charity behind the zoo, the Royal Zoological Society, was founded two centuries ago in 1826.

The monarch, who has long espoused environmental causes, is a patron of the charity, now known as ZSL.

England on Thursday saw temperatures soar above 34C for the eight day this year, the highest number of days at this temperature in a calendar year since records began.

The king, 77, grimaced in the heat, while Camilla, 78, protected herself from the sun with a small parasol.

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© Agence France-Presse