The Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie, has made a surprise cameo appearance on the BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers, joining the residents of the fictional village of Ambridge in Thursday's episode. A long-standing fan of the show, she featured in its 75th anniversary year, appearing as a surprise guest at the fictional Borchester Show in her real-life role as honorary president of the charity Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF). The appearance continues a tradition of royal cameos on the programme and drew attention to both the duchess's environmental work and the drama's landmark year.

Sophie secretly recorded her segment at the BBC in Birmingham in May, and the episode aired at 19:00 BST. She was joined by cast members including Tim Bentnick, who plays David Archer, David Troughton as Tony Archer, Susie Riddell as Tracy Horrobin, and Charles Collingwood as Brian Aldridge. She follows in the footsteps of Queen Camilla, who appeared in 2011 as president of the National Osteoporosis Society, and Princess Margaret, who made a cameo in 1984. The Archers has aired since 1951 and has clocked up more than 20,000 episodes — more than any other continuous drama serial in the world — reaching millions of listeners and tackling topical issues such as climate change, farming pressures and domestic abuse.