Queen Camilla goes her own way to cooks and books

A delighted Queen Camilla has accepted "the most prestigious order" ever bestowed by food rescue charity OzHarvest - the order of the teaspoon - at its Sydney restaurant but it was a parrot that caught her eye.

A small brooch with a crown at the end of a tiny teaspoon, the small silver gift was presented to the Queen when she sat down for lunch at OzHarvest's Refettorio restaurant in Surry Hills with regular patrons who come for a free vegetarian lunch made from rescued foods.

As OzHarvest's founder Ronni Kahn opened the box to show the brooch to the table, and travelling media, and present the "most prestigious order" - everyone in the small dining room loudly oohed and aahed.

"I shall wear it with pride," the Queen said, smiling.

Ms Kahn says the teaspoon represented the power of random acts of kindness, the symbol of the 20-year-old food rescue operation that aims to address hunger by rescuing good food that would otherwise go to waste.

The Queen donned OzHarvest's yellow apron and entered the tiny kitchen that was smaller than those in most Australian homes.

Before lunch, she helped chef Jez Berwick pick through petals from nasturtiums and other flowers to decorate the meals.

When Berwick told her that they made 500 meals a week, providing lunch to 100 people suffering from food insecurity every day, the Queen seemed stunned.

Wearing a dress in royal blue by English designer Fiona Clare, it was the second time she has visited OzHarvest, the largest food rescue operation in Australia.

After her first visit in 2015, the Queen became the patron of UKHarvest.

When she left, Crown Street was jammed with royal fans and police cars her eye was caught by Caesar, a pet parrot owned by Pierre Gawronski, a frequent diner at the restaurant.

Mr Gawronski - known as Surry Hills' eccentric birdman - and the Queen took turns trying to make the parrot say hello.

Caesar rose to the challenge and said hello. And with that the Queen said her goodbye.

It was then on to Sydney's Green Square public library for a celebration of reading where was met by Deputy Premier of NSW Prue Car.

Camilla sat down with the students moving from table to table around the room. At each she talked directly to the students who read out their work.

"Would any of you like to read your story?" the Queen asked.

Aryan, 13, read Her Majesty a beautiful story called The Red Veil.

He said "the red veil symbolises marriage in the Hindu community. It reminds me of how much my parents came through. They came from India."

After talking to the children, the Queen met past participants of The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition and presented certificates to four past and current Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition participants.

The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition is the world's oldest international writing competition for schools and has been delivered since 1883.

Moving into The Queen's Reading Room Trustee, Amanda MacManus, also former assistant private secretary to her majesty and a personal friend, introduced Camilla to bestselling Australian authors Liane Moriarty, who wrote Big Little Lies, and Thomas Keneally.

with pool reporters