Prince Charles and Camilla were in Colchester to meet troops

The Royal couple met relatives of Capt Richard Holmes during a visit to the Parachute Regiment's base in Colchester, Essex.

Capt Holmes, 28, who died alongside Pte Lee Ellis, 23, was a member of the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

The pair died in a bomb blast in Al Amarah, southern Iraq, on Tuesday.

Prince Charles and Camilla were in Colchester to meet troops from the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment before their deployment to Afghanistan.

'Immensely popular'

The Royal couple met Capt Holmes' wife, Kate. The Prince also expressed his sympathies to other soldiers in the regiment during a two-hour tour.

A spokeswoman for the Prince said his meeting with Mrs Holmes had been private.

She said the family of Pte Ellis, of Wythenshawe, Manchester, had been unable to travel to Colchester to meet the Royal couple. He leaves a fianc�e, Sarah, and a daughter Courtney.