The Duchess of Cornwall hosts a tea party attended by the cast of Strictly Come Dancing

The Duchess of Cornwall hosted a tea party attended by the National Osteoporosis Society and the Strictly Come Dancing celebrities and dancers at Buckingham Palace.

Her Royal Highness is President of the Osteoporosis National Society and the tea dance highlighted the benefits of older people staying active.

Former Strictly contestants Judy Murray, Robbie Savage and Colin Jackson, among others, competed in the Christmas Day Special and were filmed at Her Majesty The Queen's official London home in November.

Tennis coach Judy Murray, who will dance with Neil Jones in the festive show, said: "I think the fact I said I'd do the Christmas special probably tells you how much I enjoyed it first time, it's such a great show to be part of.

"I think the Christmas one doesn't have the pressure of somebody really trying to win something or get everything right - it's all for great family entertainment on Christmas Day."

Four couples, who are affected by osteoporosis and are involved in dancing, were also invited to the event. Osteoporosis is a fragile bone condition which leads to painful and often debilitating broken bones and is estimated to affect three million people in the UK, and causes 500,000 fragility fractures every year - one every minute.

The mother of tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray said about the benefits of dancing: "This is really important because what I realised during Strictly was how much fun it was to exercise to music. You can see there are many elderly people on the dance floor and they're not only exercising, they're having fun, it's a huge social thing as well."

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood introduced a performance by the show's professional dancers and spent time with The Duchess of Cornwall, who is a huge fan of the dance series.

The judge, who is a patron of the NOS, said: "A lot of people don't like running machines or football, they like dancing, so it's a great way to keep fit. It's also about endorphins and having that happy feeling at the end of it and not considering you're doing exercise for exercise sake."