The Queen said Major Plunket ‘has excelled in everything he has done for me’
Queen Camilla’s “staunch equerry”, Major Ollie Plunket, will step down from his role after three years in the position.
The royal, 78, announced the news during a speech, which she gave ahead of an awards dinner to celebrate The Rifles.
Camilla, who is Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifles, spoke at Guildhall in London, thanking Major Plunket, 31, who was in attendance.
The Rifles officer is popular with royal fans and will be succeeded by Major Rob Treasure of the same regiment.
Major Ollie Plunket is stepping down from her role as the Queen’s equerry. | GETTY
The Queen said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to Major Ollie Plunket, who has been my staunch equerry for the past three years.
“He has excelled in everything he has done for me.”
Mr Plunket first took on the role as Her Majesty’s equerry in 2022, with his initial appearance at the Princess of Wales’s carol service at Westminster Abbey that year.
A kinsman of the 9th Lord Plunket, the Rifles officer raised more than £100,000 for wounded servicemen when he embarked on a solo motorbike ride from Argentina to Alaska when he was a teenager, covering 24,500 miles.
Major Plunket first took on the role as Her Majesty’s equerry in 2022.| GETTY
Camilla first appointed Major Plunket as her first-ever equerry in November 2022, according to Grazia.
The officer helped the Queen decorate the Christmas tree at Clarence House in 2023 during a reception for seriously ill children.
Major Plunket decorated the tree using his sword to the delight of the children, who queued up to give him ornaments to add.
Mr Plunket laid down the Queen’s wreath during this year’s memorial service at the Cenotaph.
The Queen said the Major ‘has excelled in everything he has done for me’. | GETTY
Royal fans have been reacting to the news online, with one person writing on X: “I wished his position would be permanent, I’m gonna miss him forever.”
Another said: “We’ll miss Ollie. His adorable smile brightened my day every time I saw him.”
During the Queen’s speech at the awards dinner, Camilla expressed optimism that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine might be resolved through determined opposition to authoritarian rule.
The Queen delivered her remarks during a celebration honouring the Rifles infantry regiment.
Major Ollie Plunket laid a wreath this year at the Cenotaph on behalf of the Queen. | PA
Her speech emphasised the importance of confronting tyrannical forces, describing the Ukrainian conflict as both “devastating and brutal”.
She noted that The Rifles’ predecessor units had fought alongside European partners in the same geographical area during the 1850s Crimean conflict.
“Only recently we marked the 80th anniversaries of both victory in Europe and victory over Japan,” she told the assembly.
During those commemorations, she had spoken with surviving veterans who made an earnest request that pursuing peace should match the intensity with which military forces train for warfare.
“Let us hope, as our antecedents did then, that our resolve to stand up to tyranny in this same region can again find a resolution to another devastating and brutal war,” the Queen stated.
