The Queen has been greeted by presidents, prime ministers and princes from across the world but appeared just as impressed when she met a little boy dressed as a king.
Waving a Union flag and dressed in a crown and cape, Konrad Thelen had made a special effort to mark the last day of the Queen's state visit to Germany.
The five-year-old was one of thousands of well-wishers who cheered the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh when they went on a brief walkabout before travelling to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
The youngster was accompanied by his parents, and the Queen rewarded his sartorial efforts and his patience by walking over to him.
"He's very well-dressed,'" the Queen said admiringly to Konrad's parents, who had been invited by the British Council, adding: "I think you look marvellous."
Afterwards Konrad looked a little bemused by the attention but said he was "very happy" to have met her.
The royal couple went on their walkabout - their first during the four-day state visit - close to the five-star Adlon hotel where they had been staying. Pop star Michael Jackson once infamously dangled his infant son over a balcony at the same building.
As the Queen made her way out, smartly dressed staff lined the route and a loud cheer went up from the crowd.
She was dressed in a daffodil yellow coat by Angela Kelly and a hat that her chief dresser had personally hand-dyed and attached yellow and grey feathers.
It is understood she will change into a more reflective and sombre outfit for her poignant visit later to Bergen-Belsen.
During the walkabout the Queen spent around five minutes collecting flowers and chatting with well-wishers.
She appeared particularly taken with a giant bear being held out by a member of the crowd, although she declined to take it.
Heike Lakeman was shaking as she met the Queen: "I told her it was an honour to see her, but I can't remember what she said as I was shaking so much."
Matthias Burler had flown in from Frankfurt to see her: "I feel so honoured, she is a marvellous person - although so tiny in the flesh."
Also in the crowd were Christian Schnellecke, 39, and Lucian Schutt, 44, who had dressed in morning suits for the occasion.
The pair had queued since 5.15am to catch a glimpse of the Queen and hand her their posy.
Mr Schnellecke, from Berlin, said: 'We are fascinated here by British culture and have enormous respect for the Queen. She is an institution who has conducted herself with enormous dignity on the world stage."
The Queen then stepped into her burgundy and black Bentley and set off under the famous Brandenburg Gate en route to Bergen-Belsen.
It will be her first trip to the site of a former concentration camp and a personal reflective visit, with a minimum of ceremony.
The Chief Rabbi said: "The memory of the Holocaust remains such a fundamental aspect of modern Jewish identity that the Queen's journey to memorialise the victims will be viewed as tremendously significant by Jewish communities across the world."
British troops found thousands of unburied bodies and severely-ill prisoners who had been interned at the site in northern Germany when they arrived on April 15 1945.
Tens of thousands of prisoners from all over Europe were killed at Bergen-Belsen or died following its liberation as a result of their treatment.
Anne Frank and her sister Margot died at the camp not long before it was liberated.
The Queen and Philip will visit a number of memorials at the site, including one dedicated to Anne Frank, who became world-famous after her death through her diary written while she and her family hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam before their capture, and the Queen will lay a wreath at the inscription wall.
The Queen will also meet small groups of survivors and liberators as well as representatives of Jewish and Christian communities.