Queen Camilla had an awkward encounter with Ruth Jones today during a trip to South Wales for King Charles's birthday.

The monarch accompanied her husband, who turns 77 today, for an afternoon of celebrations in the historic Cyfarthfa Castle near Merthyr Tydfil.

There, the couple were greeted with a slew of famous Welsh stars, including reality TV star Liam Reardon, fashion designer Julien Macdonald, and Gavin And Stacey writer and star Ruth Jones. 

But, despite being beloved by millions onscreen as the straight talking Nessa Smith, it appeared Camilla failed to immediately recognise the actress upon meeting her. 

After quickly realising her TV fame, the Queen - who has met the star previously - blurted out: 'Haven't you lost masses of weight?' as Jones clasped her hand and introduced herself during a line-up. 

Laughing, Jones looked surprised and delighted and said: 'Yes I have, thank you! I've lost a bit of weight.' 

Ms Jones has openly spoken about her 'lifelong' battle with her size and has been showing off her transformation after losing 4.5 stone in just 22 months. 

The writer and actress admitted she even turned to a hypnotist to help her develop an aversion to her biggest vice - chocolate.

Ms Jones told the Table Manners podcast last year: 'I was a little bit cynical. You think of something you hate eating, then think of the chocolate. And keep alternating.

'I remembered when [mushy peas] were on the menu in school dinners. It completely worked. I didn't eat chocolate for five years. I couldn't stand the smell of it.'

She then confessed that she thought she was 'sorted,' and decided to unsubscribe from the email list, and her aversion to the treat soon came to an end. 

Ms Jones also previously shared how she lost 4.5 stone back in 2011, admitting it took her 22 months to lose weight after overindulging on holiday.

After returning home with a new outlook on her lifestyle, Ruth openly admitted: 'I came back from holiday a couple of years ago - January 2010, and we all overdo it on holiday, don't we?

'Something just clicked, I felt this is now or never, I wanted to make a positive change for me, and I haven't looked back.'

Instead of going down the route of fad diets and strict eating, Ruth said she simply managed her portion sizes and calorie intake.

She told The Express in 2019: 'It's taken me 22 months to lose four and a half stone. Although I have done loads of diets in my time I have never done it the old-fashioned way - taking in less calories than I was using.' 

The King, meanwhile, looked delighted as he celebrated his 77th birthday in style by cutting a giant cake at Cyfartha Castle, near Merthyr Tydfil, during the 'royal-away' day to South Wales.

A renowned workaholic, the monarch was determined things would be 'business as usual' even on his big day.

The monarch sliced into the Victoria sponge and buttercream creation, in the shape of Cyfartha Castle, watched on by the Queen, as guests including Ruth and fashion designer Julien Macdonald sang Happy Birthday.

Their Majesties were also joined at the 200-year-old castle by local celebrities, including actors Steve Speirs and Richard Harrington, TikTok creator Lewis Leigh and Love Island star Liam Reardon, who all hail from Merthyr.

In an offer he is not likely to have received on a birthday before, Love Island winner and fitness coach Liam told the King about his gym, adding: 'If you'd like to come for a session together, let me know, that would be great.'

Steve said: 'It was a real honour to see them here today in a place where we used to play as kids, it's fantastic. The fact that he's come here to Merthyr to celebrate is what makes it so special.'

The King and Queen then spoke to people working with their patronages, including The King's Trust and the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), as well as local businesses Cocos Coffee and Candles and Enaid Wellness and the domestic violence charity, Safer Merthyr Tydfil.

The monarch was also presented with a coin to mark the Trust's 50th anniversary next year, which was designed by King's Trust alumna Jessica Gregorio and produced at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant.

Designer Julien, who is an ambassador for the ROS, showed the King and Queen a dress he designed for Dame Shirley Bassey and which he had brought back specially from Monte Carlo to exhibit at the castle for their visit.

Dame Shirley has worn the yellow Italian silk georgette gown, embellished with 20,000 Swarowski crystals and upcycled ostrich feathers, to a Royal Variety Performance and to open a world tour.

The Queen has previously attended one of Julien's fashion shows in aid of the Royal Osteoporosis Society as the charity's President.

She took on the role in 2001, having got involved with its work following the deaths of her mother Rosalind Shand and grandmother Sonia Keppel from the disease.

The royal couple had braved Storm Claudia and torrential downpours to visit south Wales, where despite the weather, hundreds had gathered to greet them.

Despite running over their scheduled time at the castle, they both spent time shaking hands with wellwishers who had waited up to three hours to see the royal couple.

There were shouts of 'Happy birthday!' and 'Penblwydd Hapus, Your Majesty!' as the King stopped to chat to as many people as possible, accepting gifts of cuddly toys and homemade cards, while his wife was given bouquets of flowers.

'That's for you,' one schoolgirl told the King, handing him a teddy bear. 'For me?'he asked, beaming. 'Are you sure you don't need it?'

'Nice wet day!' said the Queen, laughing, as she shook hands from beneath her umbrella and joked with one woman, shielded by her own umbrella, 'at least you've got a bit of a windbreak'.

Later the King received another 'money-can't-buy' gift - getting the chance to drive a tram-train as he officially opened a £100million depot in Wales.

Charles was greeted by Huw Irranca-Davies, deputy first minister of Wales, and had a tour of the South Wales Metro Depot, a few miles north-west of Cardiff, on Friday morning.

His visit marked a 'major milestone' for the transport project nicknamed the 'Welsh tube', which is electrifying and upgrading the rail network across South Wales.

The King appeared in high spirits despite heavy rain, waving at schoolchildren as he drove the tram-train and joking that the depot staff 'deserved a whisky' after the official opening.

Just after 2pm, the King arrived at South Wales Metro Depot, located on the former Garth Works Industrial Estate in Taff's Well, a village north-west of Cardiff.

The depot, which was purpose-built to maintain a fleet of 36 cutting edge tram-trains, is where over 400 train crew will start and end their shifts once the tram-trains are in service next year. Locals have voted to name it The Walnut Tree Depot.

On boarding one of the tram-trains, the King took off his overcoat and eagerly took the driver's seat. He operated the windscreen wipers before driving about 125m within the depot.

Charles then waved back to primary school children before gently bringing the tram-train to a halt.

Bev Hannible, 45, from Stockport, who taught the King to drive the tram-train, said, 'He was quite keen to just get going. He said, "This is wonderful". I did ask him if he'd driven a train before and he said, "Of course".

'Obviously they have changed a lot, it's all now computer screens really but he took instruction really well. I told him what was going to happen, I waited for the signal to turn and said away you go, and he took power and off we went.

'I said we've got some special little guests waiting for you and he gave them a wave.'

Hannible said this was safe to do and added that passing drivers often wave to each other. She said the King had been 'better than some' trainees she had taught over her 21 years on the railway.

The tram-trains, which have a total capacity of 252 people, are designed to operate both as conventional trains on existing railway lines and as trams on future Metro extensions.

Powered both by electrical lines overhead and battery power, they are greener and quieter than traditional trains.

The one Charles drove was also officially named Myddfai, after the small Carmarthenshire village nestled in the Brecon Beacons, where he had his Welsh residence, the 18th-century coach house Llwynywermod. 

While on board Myddfai, the King spoke to long-serving members of staff who have worked towards the completion of the new depot.

Deputy first minister Irranca-Davies complimented the King's 'very smooth driving', to which Charles jokingly replied, 'Flattery won't get you everywhere'.

Jo Stevens, Labour MP for Cardiff East, and Secretary of State for Wales, wished him a happy birthday.

As the King disembarked the tram-train, the Eilir Owen Griffiths Singers sang Bread of Heaven (Cwm Rhondda).

He then toured the depot's facilities and met Transport for Wales staff, including two apprentices and three members of the same family who all work at the depot. He unveiled a plaque and was gifted a repurposed piece of railway crafted into bookends.

Before his departure, the King had a group photo with Transport for Wales staff and members of the local community.

He asked when they all clocked off and said they deserved a whiskey, to which they all laughed.

The completion of the depot is a significant milestone for the South Wales Metro project, which has received £800million worth of investment to electrify 170km of existing railway and upgrade the majority of stations.

The project aims to bring faster and more frequent journeys to the area, aiming to level up the South Wales Valleys.

Its pay-as-you-go, 'tap on, tap off' ticketing system - the first outside London - has already enabled over 1.8 million journeys across 95 stations in South Wales and will expand to North Wales next year.

Upgrades to stations began in 2020, with major work already delivered across lines including the Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff Bay, and Treherbert.