Pewsey received the royal seal of approval this week when the village’s display tent at a medieval fair in Salisbury was one of only four out of 21 to be visited by the Queen.

Villagers said all along they hoped that including two Wiltshire horned sheep from James Read’s farm at Stanton St Bernard in their display would catch the royal eye when the Queen made her diamond jubilee visit to the county on Tuesday, and they were not disappointed.

Coun Jerry Kunkler, who as chairman of the Pewsey Area Board co-ordinated the display at Salisbury, said: “We were all chuffed when it was leaked to me the night before that the Queen would be visiting our tent.

“The Queen visited half of them while Prince Philip did the others but we were just so delighted after all the hard work we had put into our display when she decided to include the Pewsey tent and she was genuinely interested in our display and asked questions about the exhibits.”

Inside the tent the Queen admired a timeline of the area’s history created by Suzie Brew from Grafton and a map showing local attractions drawn by June Pearson also from Grafton.

Mrs Brew, a Grafton parish councillor, said: “She was very chatty and relaxed and she was clearly enjoying the day. I think from her questions that the Queen knows the Pewsey area quite well.”

Nine groups were represented in the Marlborough community area tent, including the Kennet Valley Driving Club, which teaches disabled people how to drive a horse and carriage.

The Duke spent a few minutes speaking to members. Leader Maggie Lewis said: “The Duke chatted quite a bit, but then he is very interested in horses and carriages.”

Inside the tent the Duke saw work by the Marlborough Embroidery Guild and viewed Action for the River Kennet’s project to save the waterway from over-extraction. He met volunteers from the Merchant’s House museum in the High Street and spoke to Ros Martin, who was dressed as the wife of the 17th-century silk merchant Thomas Bayly.

She said: “I was introduced to him as Mrs Bayly, who had nine children. He replied, ‘Really? I thought that sort of thing had gone out of fashion’.”