Flustered Queen Camilla left giggling as she meets scantily-clad Gladiator

Queen Camilla hosted the finals of the BBC 500 Words competition at Buckingham Palace today and was introduced to BBC Gladiators star Nitro, who wore his famous costume, as well as Gladiator colleague Fire

Queen Camilla didn’t know where to look as she was introduced to muscle bound Nitro from Gladiators.

The Queen was hosting the finals of the BBC 500 Words competition today for young writers when she was introduced to the scantily-clad star – real name Harry Aikines-Aryeetey – in a formal lineup. “This is Harry, but you night know him as Gladiator Nitro,” she was told, leaving the Queen giggling. “It’s so lovely to meet you,” he said, with a small bow.

“The children were so thrilled to be escorted off by a Gladiator,” said Camilla, who seemed to have a rudimentary knowledge of the popular BBC programme, referring to how the competition’s winners were walked back to their seats by himself and colleague, Fire.

“We seem to have such a rapport with these young children, which is amazing,” he said. “They will probably remember that more than they will winning a medal,” quipped the Queen. “Well thank you very much indeed.”

She also spoke to his colleague and told her: “How are you managing to keep it going. You must be black and blue.” Fire replied: “We try to work as a team. Today was just about the children. It’s such an honour to be here.” Nitro revealed afterwards that it was actually the second time he had been invited to Buckingham Palace.

The first was when he was a competitive sprinter and he was asked to meet the late Queen Elizabeth after he became a British sprinting Olympian and member of Team GB at the European and World Championships. He said: “I met the late Queen as Harry here in this room. I was invited here in 2010-ish to highlight my achievements on behalf of the ethnic minorities.”

He joked that he was slightly differently dressed then and “had a few more clothes on”.

“I was dressed well,” he said, laughing. “To be fair I did come [this time] dressed correctly and once I got here they told me [to put on his shorts and singlet]. I thought gosh, surely I must be the least dressed man in this room. I’ve added to the history.” He said the Queen didn’t “even blink” when she saw him.

“She wasn’t surprised. I guess it’s 2025 and we are welcoming all sorts into the house!”

Camilla’s encounter with Nitro and Fire came after she had earlier joined King Charles to help pack food donation boxes at an Indian restaurant ahead of Ramadan. The couple met a group of Muslim women at Darjeeling Express, a restaurant in Kingly Court in Soho, central London, on Wednesday, including professional rugby player Zainab Alema and author Hajera Memon.

The King and Queen also helped pack dates in small bags to be sent to hospitals during Ramadan. Ramadan is set to begin on Friday evening and will go on until March 30.