Tony Hudgell: Queen Camilla hosts boy who missed garden party

A nine-year-old double amputee who missed the King’s garden party due to a traffic jam has attended a private gathering with Queen Camilla.

Tony Hudgell, from West Malling, Kent, was on his way to Buckingham Palace in May when he and his family got stuck in traffic on the M20.

He was subsequently invited to have tea with the Queen at her London residence.

At the party, Tony also received the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the prevention of child abuse.

The boy’s adoptive mum, Paula Hudgell, previously said the family were originally invited to a garden party on a different date, but they had to bring the date forward so she could have surgery for her bowel cancer.

In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, the Queen said: “Really nice to get you here today.

“We thought we’d give you a special garden party.”

Tony said he was “very happy” to be able to finally attend a party.

“I was supposed to go to a garden party, but we got stuck in traffic,” he said.

“My mum put out a tweet and the Queen’s team said, ‘so sad that you didn’t make the garden party today’. But we found out I was having a private one with another person called Lyla.”

Brain tumour patient Lyla O’Donovan, 11, of North Yorkshire, was also invited to meet Camilla after she missed the garden party in May due to ill-health.

She said: “We couldn’t come to the garden party last month because I was in hospital.

“We sat around the table and just chatted for a bit. We had some little cookies, some sandwiches, and tea.”

Garden parties are held each summer to invitees who have made a positive impact in their community.