The Queen and Camilla join together to send a sweet message to volunteer staff on video call

The Queen and Camilla joined forces to thank some of the people who have volunteered throughout the pandemic.

·     The royals joined Royal Voluntary Service chief executive Catherine Johnston and four RVS volunteers on a call on Friday.

·     The Queen took the call with the volunteers and thanked them for their services over the last year.

·     In other royal news, Prince Harry has penned an emotional foreword for a children's book on parental loss.

A year on from the start of the pandemic the Queen, who is a patron of the RVS, and The Duchess of Cornwall thanked volunteers in a video call.

The Queen was first to thank them and said: "Thank you very much indeed, very interesting to hear what you (have) been doing I think it's wonderful work and I do thank everybody for, and all the others too, who have been volunteering it’s been a great, great help, over this very difficult year. Very nice to meet you all."

The NHS Volunteer Responders was launched last March - with 1.6 million tasks,  including "Check in and Chat" calls, delivering food, picking up prescriptions and now assisting with the vaccination rollout, being carried out over the last year.

The Duchess of Cornwall, who is president of the charity, seemed impressed with all that they had done and went on to say: "Thank you all very much for all you’ve done throughout the year, throughout the pandemic. We couldn't have done it without you."

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One of the volunteers who joined the call included Anderson Akponeware, who is studying for a Ph.D. and has been home-schooling his children but made time for the charity's 'Check-in and Chat' calls.

He said: "People have been living in their own small bubbles, and I wouldn’t have known how isolated those small bubbles could be until I took on this role."

The Queen, who looked impressed, asked: "You managed to find time between your studying and volunteering?"

Anderson, who said he shares the homeschool with his wife, responded: "My wife and I try to think more about those in our community and all we can do to make their lives better."

This week Camilla also announced she’s taking a 'bit of a break' from her Reading Room online book club Instagram page but promises to return and thanked followers for their support.