Queen meets therapy dog on visit to school in Northern Ireland

The Queen enjoyed an encounter with an affectionate trainee therapy dog as she visited a primary school known for having the most diverse pupil community in Northern Ireland.

Tilly, a six-year-old Poochon, showed no intention of standing on ceremony as she enthusiastically licked Camilla’s hand during the Queen’s tour of Fane Street Primary School in south Belfast.

Forty-five countries are represented and 47 different languages are spoken among its 285 pupils.

The school ran a competition for children to write to the Queen asking her to pay them a visit and on Tuesday afternoon she took them up on the offer.

During her tour, Camilla heard about Tilly’s nine months of training to qualify as a therapy dog. She currently spends two days a week in the school, where she is used as a source of comfort and support to children.

Camilla met children at Fane Street Primary School (Chris Jackson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Chris Jackson

Later, after being treated to a musical and dance performance in the assembly hall, the Queen unveiled a plaque to commemorate her visit and then presented a selection of children’s books to school principal Hilary Cunningham.

Camilla also gave a short address during which she hailed the work of the school.

“It’s a pleasure to be here and having received a letter from two of your pupils asking me to come here, I’m here – so I’m very grateful,” she said.

The Queen added: “I’ve had a very small tour of all that you are doing here but I can see you are doing a fantastic job with so many different nationalities.”

South Belfast MP Claire Hanna was among several dignitaries who also gathered in the assembly hall for Camilla’s visit.

The school has 285 pupils who represent 45 countries and speak 47 different languages (Chris Jackson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Chris Jackson

At the close of the engagement, the Queen posed for a group picture with the pupils before exchanging several high-fives with the cheering children before saying goodbye.

Afterwards, principal Ms Cunningham described the special visit as “absolutely amazing” and “great recognition” for staff who work to support children and their families.

“We are the most diverse school in Northern Ireland,” she said.

“We do quite a lot of family support. We believe in supporting the whole family, not just the child, and it’s lovely to have that recognised.”

She added: “Ninety per cent of our children come from other cultures, however, we’re a very, very close school as well. We call ourselves the Fane Street family. The children seem to be very, very happy here and the parents seem to be very happy with the support that they get as well.”

Ms Cunningham said the day would last long in the memories of the pupils.

The Queen was met by cheering children at the school, known for being one of the most diverse in Northern Ireland (Chris Jackson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Chris Jackson

“The children were just delighted, they were really, really happy,” she said.

“We actually had one child in tears, because she was so happy.”

The school’s special needs coordinator Carole-Anne Stuart, who introduced the Queen to Tilly, joked that the dog might have been a bit “over-familiar”.

“She just loves people, that’s why we sort of know she’d be good at being a therapy dog,” she said.

“She’s a very calm, nice nature, and she just loves people, and loves being stroked and cuddles and attention.”