David Beckham made a surprise appearance to the delight of youngsters at a fire safety event in west London.
The former England star was picking up his daughter when he bumped into fire crews at The Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre.
His presence was an unexpected bonus for children, who had been demonstrating their newfound fire safety awareness at the charity.
Goldenballs added extra celebrity sparkle to the event, at which Princess Anne and the charity's patron actor Martin Clunes joined firefighters .
Youngsters demonstrated the emergency skills they had learned during a course at the centre, including how to raise the alarm, lead the evacuation of the stable yard and treat casualties.
Beckham joins Princess Anne and Martin Clunes
The Princess Royal presented firefighter Louis Roberts with a certificate for helping educate young people about fire safety at the centre.
The pony centre was founded in 1989 by the UK's first female firefighter Sister Mary-Joy Langdon to help inner city children, especially those with learning difficulties and physical disabilities.
Since then, hundreds of children have learned basic fire safety and first aid skills at the centre, which houses seventeen horses and ponies, and two donkeys.
Rob Davies, borough commander of the fire brigade in Kensington and Chelsea , said: "From being the UK's first woman firefighter to teaching hundreds of children about fire safety, Sister Mary-Joy has been a pioneer and inspiration in the history of the fire brigade.
"It is a privilege to play a small part in teaching the next generation of young riders about fire safety and we look to be more involved with the charity in the future.
Pony charity started by UK's first female firefighter
"The crews were quite shocked to see David Beckham, who was brilliant with his time and was happy to have a picture with them.
"The Brigade has met a lot of celebrities over our 150 year history but to meet fire brigade royalty, football royalty, comedy royalty and real royalty in one day must be a record."
Sister Langdon, who joined East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service 40 years ago, was presented with a copy of the London Fire Brigade's 150th anniversary book by the capital's most senior female firefighter, Dany Cotton, the LFB's director of safety and assurance.
"I have always been extremely keen on every child having a good basic training that can be used in an emergency situation and being able to highlight these skills on the 40th anniversary of becoming first female operational firefighter is so fitting," said Sister Langdon.
