The reception provided an opportunity to celebrate Britain’s 14-medal haul, including nine golds, in the two Games.

Horse owners and members of the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) core support team were also among the 70 plus guests present.

"I just wanted to congratulate all of you, the riders, owners, grooms and trainers, and of course the horses - I wish that we could have got them here," the Duchess said.

"Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for Tokyo (hosts of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games), and I hope we’ll be seeing you all in four years’ time with a lot of medals around your neck."

Britain’s Para-dressage team were the first to be presented to the Duchess.

The quartet, made up of Natasha Baker, Sophie Wells, Anne Dunham and Sophie Christiansen, maintained their unbeaten record in the summer and helped record one of the squad’s biggest medal hauls to date,

"It’s a huge honour to be invited here," Baker, a triple Rio 2016 Paralympic gold medallist, said.

"She’s so welcoming and asked lovely questions on how our horses were getting on and how Rio was.

"It’s so nice to catch-up with the team.

"We haven’t seen each other for a while and it’s even more special to be here with all the other disciplines as well.

"This evening feels like the end of the Rio chapter and the beginning of the Tokyo [2020] chapter."

Clare Salmon, chief executive of the BEF, added: "Our very warm thanks to our very generous and incredibly knowledgeable Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, who has welcomed us so splendidly to her home.

"We are here to recognise the momentous achievements of our Olympians and Paralympians in Rio, and everyone here has played a part in this.

"It has been a fantastic journey and we look forward to Tokyo."

Britain won two gold medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics thanks to individual dressage success for Charlotte Dujardin on the now-retired Valegro and Nick Skelton’s triumph in the individual jumping on Big Star.

As well as winning Paralympic gold in the team event, Baker also came out on top in the individual championship test grade II and individual freestyle test grade II.

Christiansen topped the podium ahead of Dunham in the individual championship test grade Ia and individual freestyle test grade Ia, while Wells prevailed in the individual championship test grade IV.

The one other Paralympic gold medal went the way of the newly-knighted Lee Pearson in the individual freestyle test grade Ib.

There were also silvers for the Olympic dressage team - made up of Dujardin, Spencer Wilton, Fiona Bigwood and Carl Hester - as well as Pearson in the individual championship test grade Ib and Wells in the individual freestyle test grade IV.