Flag-waving youngsters whose summer has been spent studying royalty came face to face with the real thing today.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall were greeted by more than 100 cheering children as they arrived in Brecon.

The historic Mid Wales town is the first stop for The Prince and The Duchess on the second day of their annual summer visit to the principality.

As the couple arrived to attend a thanksgiving service in Brecon Cathedral, pupils from the nearby Priory School gave them an enthusiastic welcome and The Duchess accepted a bouquet.

"It's a one-time experience for people to see them, it doesn't happen often," said Nikita Griffiths, 10.

"People who live in London see them all the time but they don't come to somewhere like Brecon very often."

Rachel Evans, a teacher at the primary school, said there had been a buzz of excitement since pupils were told, only yesterday, that they would be greeting the royal couple.

"It is an amazing experience for the children to see the royal couple live and for real," she said.

"They did a big project on the Jubilee at school and we also held a coronation at the cathedral itself."

Pupil Olivia Davies, 11, said she had met both The Prince and The Duchess before, when they officially opened the newly built school she attends, in 2009.

"They were really nice when they came last time, they both smiled a lot," she said.

Once The Prince and The Duchess were inside, the thanksgiving service got under way marking the successful conclusion of a decade of fundraising for the cathedral choir, hitting the £1 million mark.

The Prince last visited Brecon Cathedral in 2009 when the appeal fund had reached £500,000.

The service today included an array of hymns sung by the choir, a reading of Psalm 148 and a concluding blessing.

The Royal couple then visited the Brecon Small Picture Show held in a small annexe off the cathedral's main hall.

Exhibiting were a number of contemporary British artists who were also helping to raise cash for the choir by donating money from any sales to the choir fund.

Among the artists exhibiting were a handful who previously accompanied The Prince, at his personal expense, on official overseas tours.

An enthusiastic Duchess bought three paintings, including Fernando the Cockerel by Claire Eastgate.

Her Royal Highness was very taken with the pictures discovered "a mutual love of chickens" with the artist when they started to chat about the painting's subject matter.

Claire Eastgate, 44, from south Shropshire, was overjoyed when she realised her painting had attracted a royal buyer.

"I heard her say to someone 'go and get the red dot to put on the painting', and then she came over and said that she was a big fan of hens and cockerels.

"Then I told her the story of Fernando who escaped from me when I had him and how he ran off with the chickens next door and disappeared."

"We have a mutual love of chickens and how quirky they are, and she said that she loved them, which is very nice.

"So there you are, my royal moment and all of it down to chickens."

The Duchess also bought a woodcut called The Noble Pig for £150 by Herefordshire artist Jonathan Heale and a watercolour streetscape for £375 by Scottish artist Mungo McCosh with all proceeds going to charity.

The Prince and The Duchess then separated and carried out individual visits of their own.

The Duchess visited Ysgol Penmaes, a school for children with severe learning difficulties.

The Brecon school opened in 2006 and caters for 110 pupils aged from two to 19.

The Duchess met 17-year-old Hannah Charnley who had come equipped with her own Olympic torch.

The teenager was a torchbearer when the official flame passed through Wales on 26th May. Today she proudly brought in the torch she carried on the day.

The Duchess also visited Golwg y Camlas, a respite unit run by social services adjacent to the school.

She went on to visit an autism unit at the school and clearly enjoyed the warm welcome she received, particularly from pupil Nathan Scott who won himself a round of applause with an unexpected bow to greet Her Royal Highness.

Later The Duchess met a number of parents and governors at the school and was entertained by a choir of pupils who sang Bread of Heaven and Delilah.

Before leaving she unveiled the school's specially commissioned new jubilee stained glass window.

She then met local people and volunteers connected with the Brecon and Monmouthshire Canal, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary.