The Duchess of Edinburgh wore a pair of white heart-shaped glasses in Antigua and Barbuda to raise awareness of efforts to improve eye health around the world.
Sophie joined delegates in putting on the novelty frames as she attended the inaugural Global Summit for Eye Health, held alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in St John's.
Her visit coincided with the King and Queen's official tour to the Caribbean nation, but the royals did not meet during the duchess's brief trip because of their busy programmes.
Speech on avoidable blindness
The duchess, a global ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, stressed the importance of tackling avoidable blindness in a speech to the summit on Monday.
She said: "For too long treatable and avoidable blindness has been overlooked, perceived perhaps as a non-vital and non-life-threatening condition.
"However, the treatment of avoidable blindness is as imperative as any other health challenge, not only because it prevents individuals from losing their window onto the world, curtailing life chances and choices, but if treated with low cost and effective interventions there are huge returns to be had.
"Simply put – it just does not have to happen and the rewards are huge."
Summit commitments and clinic visit
Some 200 commitments to transform eye health worldwide were secured at the summit, including more than one billion US dollars in government pledges to tackle avoidable sight loss and the promise of 68 million glasses and 13 million cataract surgeries.
The duchess spoke of witnessing sight being saved through operations and screening during her role with the agency, adding: "What always stays with me is the stories from those people: A mother who can prepare a family meal safely and read to her children.
"A student who can finally see the board in class because they have received prescription lenses. A father who can return to meaningful employment. A grandmother whose independence and dignity has been given back to her.
"I have seen so many times how one person's sight being restored changes a whole family, as well as a whole community."
She also visited an eye clinic supported by the Cure Blindness Project, where she met Antiguan nurses who recently completed specialist ophthalmic training and are helping expand access to eye care services across the country.
