A Soapmaker received the royal seal of approval when Princess Anne bought some of her products.

The Princess Royal made a beeline for Maggi Dearmer's stall at the British Horse Society's Voice of the Horse event, at Houghall College, Durham, last week.

She asked Mrs Dearmer, of Peartree, near Burnhope, County Durham, how she made her natural products, including soaps, hand creams, body lotions and bath salts, and expressed interest in how they soothed various ailments.

The Princess Royal bought a gardener's soap and a jasmine soap, and her maid of honour bought a jasmine and a bed of roses soap.

Mrs Dearmer, who runs the Touch of Class company from a converted bedroom at her home, said it stemmed from her own problem with psoriasis.

"I got into it because I had psoriasis and I couldn't use ordinary soap, so I developed some for myself," she said. "Then I developed some for a friend who had eczema and it's grown from there.

"I started off in the kitchen, but then the business got too big, so now it's in the spare bedroom."

Mrs Dearmer's products are available from farmers' markets, a couple of shops and Berwick Garden Centre, but she hopes to start supplying them to more shops in the future.

She said she was delighted by Princess Anne's interest.

"She chatted to me for about eight minutes and picked up a joint and muscle soap and asked what was in it," she said.

"She was lovely."

Touch of Class will be at Durham Farmers' Market, in Durham Market Place, on Thursday, and Darlington Farmers' Market on Friday