THE Princess Royal shared the stage with four humble donkeys yesterday as she celebrated the work of a charity close to her heart.

The Pageant of the Donkey at York Minster was organised by the local Guild of Freemen and Riding for the Disabled (RDA) - of which the Princess is patron.

The cathedral was filled with more than 1,300 children from RDA groups and schools from across the region.

The service consisted of a series of short pageants, each led by a different donkey - Maude, Ben, Rumpelstiltskin and John Barleycorn.

They were designed to remind the congregation of the part played by donkeys in the life of Jesus, from the Nativity, through Palm Sunday to Easter Day.

The pageants are a revival of an ancient French custom, when a carnival-like procession would make its way through the streets.

It would be headed by a richly-dressed donkey carrying a young woman and child, which would make its way into the cathedral, where the donkey and its burden would stand beside the high altar during the Mass.

* While in the city, the Princess also formally opened a major exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum about the life and times of Constantine the Great, who was proclaimed as Roman emperor while in the city.