Duke and Duchess of Cornwall on three-day tour

The tour is to celebrate the prince's 60th anniversary as Duke of Cornwall and also to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall have begun a three-day visit to the county and the Isles of Scilly.

The tour is being staged to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the prince's 60th anniversary as Duke of Cornwall.

The first stop on the couple's visit was the official opening of the £35m Heartlands mining history and cultural attraction in Pool.

They will also attend a garden party at Trewithen, near Truro.

The couple sheltered under umbrellas as they officially opened the Heartlands, a community-led regeneration project in one of the most impoverished parts of Cornwall.

Surfing Queen

The visit to the project, at the Robinson's Shaft of the former South Crofty mine in Pool, is one of a series of engagements the couple will undertake over three days.

The tour is Charles and Camilla's seventh joint annual summer visit to Cornwall.

The prince, in a grey double breasted suit, lilac shirt and dark blue tie, stopped for a pint of Betty Stogs ale - produced by local brewers, Skinners.

Steve Skinner, chief executive and head taster at the brewery, said: "He said it was very nice and agreed it was very hoppy."

The prince was also shown a beer mat produced to mark the company's launch of a specially brewed ale for the Diamond Jubilee.

Scilly trip

The beer mat shows the Queen surfing on a surfboard in her crown and pink robe - over a wetsuit - and with a corgi by her side.

Mr Skinner said: ""He said she looked very pleased with herself, but the corgi looked a bit uninterested."

On Tuesday, they will be on the Isles of Scilly and tour the new £14m Five Islands school on St Mary's.

The 250-pupil school provides primary and secondary education for the islands of St Mary's, Bryher, St Agnes, St Martin's and Tresco.

They will then travel by boat to Bryher where they will meet members of the local gig rowing club.

The final day of the tour on Wednesday will see the Duchess of Cornwall open the new headquarters of the Cornwall Air Ambulance at Newquay Airport.

Prince Charles will visit the Old Duchy Palace, Lostwithiel.

The Grade I listed 700-year-old palace is currently being restored and regenerated by The Prince's Regeneration Trust, in partnership with the Cornwall Buildings Preservation Trust.