Queen Camilla’s faithful equerry Major Ollie Plunket will step down from the role after three years, she has announced.
The royal, 78, revealed the news during a speech on Thursday, November 27, which she gave ahead of an awards dinner to celebrate The Rifles, one of the Army’s key infantry regiments.
Speaking at the Guildhall in the City of London, Camilla – who is Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles, thanked Plunket, 31, who was in attendance that evening.
The Rifles officer, who has gained a reputation among royal fans for his tall stature and handsome looks, will be succeeded by Major Rob Treasure of the same regiment.
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.’
When Ollie first took on the role as Her Majesty’s equerry in 2022, royal fans swooned over his dashing good looks when they caught their first glimpse of him at the Princess of Wales’s carol service at Westminster Abbey that year.
A kinsman of the 9th Lord Plunket, Ollie embarked on a solo motorbike ride from Argentina to Alaska when he was a teenager, covering 24,500 miles and raising more than £100,000 for wounded servicemen.
Queen Camilla appointed Ollie as her first ever equerry in November 2022, according to Grazia.
In 2023, hearts swelled over images of him helping the Queen decorate the Christmas tree at Clarence House during a reception for seriously ill children who were supported by two of Her Majesty’s charities, Helen & Douglas House and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity.
Ollie embellished the tree further and placed a decoration using his sword – a Christmas tradition that occurs each year at Clarence House.
He managed to pull off the feat multiple times, much to the delight of the children who queued up to give him another ornament to try.
Fans of the good-looking equerry took to social media to share their sadness about seeing less of Ollie during royal events.
‘I wished his position would be permanent, I’m gonna miss him forever,’ one person wrote on X.
Another replied: ‘Same! We‘ll miss Ollie. His adorable smile brightened my day every time I saw him.’
However, others are already looking forward to casting their eyes on Ollie’s successor, Rob – with several writing that they hope he will be ‘eye candy’.
Rob, who is set to take Ollie’s place, is a platoon commander of the first battalion in The Rifles, having studied at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, according to his LinkedIn.
Earlier this year, Rob, 29, successfully completed The World’s Toughest Row with his teammates Charlie Newman and Rob Cross, who are both also serving British Army officers.
He told The Telegraph that he undertook the challenge in memory of his father, who died from cancer in 2021, and the team planned to raise at least £200,000 in sponsorship for charities including Macmillan Cancer Support.’
The achievement was celebrated in an Instagram post by The Rifles, which showed video clips from Rob and his team’s journey.
The challenge saw the trio, who called themselves Team V3nture, take on over 3,000 miles of open water in 40 days, 17 hours and 40 minutes on the Atlantic Ocean.
Team V3nture finished first in the trio category and in seventh place overall.
‘The regiment is incredibly proud of what he and his teammates have achieved and showcases the determination and bold spirit of British Army Soldiers,’ the post caption read.
Equerries are officers of a royal household or court who assists members of the royal family, and re likely to spend around three years in the role, assisting the royal in their public duties.
Ollie was one of three royal equerries who have fan clubs of their own, including Major Jonathan Thompson, and Lieutenant Commander Rob Dixon.
Jonathan was once the Queen’s most senior bodyguard but now serves King Charles and has been seen constantly at his side.
Meanwhile, Rob is Prince William’s equerry and is a Royal Navy officer who’s worked for the Royal Household since September 2020, according to his LinkedIn.
