Bonnie King Charlie! Monarch is greeted by cheering crowds in Scotland as he helps mark 40th anniversary of community facility
Hundreds of well-wishers including scores of Saltire-waving schoolchildren lined the streets of a Scottish town to catch a glimpse of the King on a visit to a community day centre.
Charles crisscrossed Kinross High Street in Perthshire to shake as many hands as he could amid cheers and flag-waving as he made his way towards Kinross Day Centre on Friday.
Inside the day centre, dozens of senior citizens gave Charles an enthusiastic three cheers as he unveiled a plaque to mark its 40th anniversary.
His appearance comes as his youngest son, Prince Harry, continued his trip to Europe alongside his wife Meghan Markle for the Invictus Games.
The Duke did spend time in Britain at the end of last week – however the Mail on Sunday reported the King did not meet with Harry when he visited the country.
Hundreds of well-wishers including scores of Saltire-waving schoolchildren lined the streets of a Scottish town to catch a glimpse of the King on a visit to a community day centre
Charles crisscrossed Kinross High Street in Perthshire to shake as many hands as he could amid cheers and flag-waving as he made his way towards Kinross Day Centre on Friday
Inside the day centre, dozens of senior citizens gave Charles an enthusiastic three cheers as he unveiled a plaque to mark its 40th anniversary
Kinross District Pipe Band performed a selection of songs to mark his arrival, including Scotland The Brave, and continued to play as he progressed down the street.
Volunteers at the centre regularly serve a three-course meal to up to 40 pensioners every weekday as well as run a meals on wheels service for other elderly residents.
Charles spoke to several pensioners patiently awaiting their pork lunch, and was overheard saying to one volunteer he quite fancied one of the flans made in the kitchen.
He was also heard to joke to a group sitting at one table: ‘At least they don’t make you do the washing up.’
The King met volunteer Ailsa Smith, who revealed her father Alan was the original founder of the centre 40 years ago.
She said her father secured the funding needed to convert the former church for the benefit of the community after he learned there were plans afoot to use it as a potato store.
Reflecting on her chat with the King, Ms Smith said: ‘He was charming to speak to. He was very interested in the centre and how my parents started it and the family connection.’
Speaking about herself and the team behind the day centre, she added: ‘I’m very proud to be a volunteer here – they do so much for the community here, well above their remit.’
Kinross District Pipe Band performed a selection of songs to mark his arrival, including Scotland The Brave
The band continued to play as King Charles progressed down the street
The royal father-of-two shook hands with members of the public and appeared in high spirits as he spoke to locals
Meanwhile the royal also accepted poseys of flowers and spoke to school children waving Union flags
Among those he spoke to were young schoolchidren, who were waving Union flags during the walkabout
Local minister Reverend Alan Reid, chair of the day centre’s committee, made a short speech ahead of the King unveiling the 40th anniversary plaque.
Addressing Charles, he said: ‘Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, as we begin the 40th anniversary celebrations of this fantastic facility, and 40 years of care in the community, we’re greatly honoured and encouraged by your visit.’
Earlier, the King was formally welcomed to Kinross by a number of local dignitaries including Lord-Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross Stephen Leckie, and Perth and Kinross Provost Xander McDade further up the road at St Paul’s Episcopal Church.
There, Charles met and spoke with Annie McCormack and Clare Slight, two of the founders of local anti-poverty charity Broke Not Broken, which provides food parcels to people and families in need.
He was given an overview of the charity’s work while looking over the organisation’s food store within an outbuilding at the church, which Ms Slight explained was bought for just £1 when the group was founded.
Charles was overheard to remark that he was impressed with the size of the leeks when he took a tour of the group’s garden nearby where volunteers grow their own vegetables.
The King was beaming with joy as he took part in the walkabout today, before visiting the community centre
His appearance today comes after a royal insider said King Charles’s rift with Prince Harry ‘humanises him’ because it ‘mirrors what happens in a lot of families’
Ms McCormack said demand for food parcels has soared in recent times due to the cost-of-living crisis and the charity is grateful for all donations it receives.
‘It’s higher now than it was during Covid,’ she said. ‘Everything is going up and a lot of people with jobs are coming to use the food bank now.
‘We’re giving out hundreds of parcels a month and spending between £500 and £1,000 a week buying in enough food to meet that demand.’
His appearance today comes after a royal insider said King Charles’s rift with Prince Harry ‘humanises him’ because it ‘mirrors what happens in a lot of families’.
The friend of the King added that Charles has found the public support ‘reassuring’ and said it is ‘clear what side the public has come down on’ throughout the feud with his youngest son.
The late Queen’s funeral and the coronation were two chances to see Charles lead moments of national unity.
But both events shone a light on the conflict within the main members of the Windsor family.
After Harry’s explosive Netflix documentary and his memoir Spare, Charles took advice from friends and aides outside the household, and settled on a policy for privacy, according to The Times.
Earlier, the King was formally welcomed to Kinross by a number of local dignitaries including Lord-Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross Stephen Leckie, and Perth and Kinross Provost Xander McDade further up the road at St Paul’s Episcopal Church
Charles was overheard to remark that he was impressed with the size of the leeks when he took a tour of the group’s garden nearby where volunteers grow their own vegetables
He was given an overview of the charity’s work while looking over the organisation’s food store within an outbuilding at the church, which Ms Slight explained was bought for just £1 when the group was founded
The royal aide said: ‘He has done the right thing to rise above it and carry on with the work of the monarchy, which provides a welcome and stark contrast to what happens on the west coast of America.
‘It’s all very sad, but it also mirrors what happens in a lot of families, so it humanises him.’
Prince Harry wasted no time in leaving his father’s coronation in May, getting picked up from Westminster Abbey by a car that immediately headed out of London and was spotted at Heathrow Airport.
Harry was seen smiling as he climbed into a black vehicle immediately after the historic event took place. The same car was then seen being escorted out of the capital by a police motorcade in the direction of Heathrow.
Harry was widely expected to return to California as soon as possible to celebrate his son Archie’s fourth birthday with his wife Meghan.
It was reported that the Duke had been invited to a post-coronation lunch at Buckingham Palace, in what many would have seen as an olive branch after his explosive memoir left several members of the Royal Family reeling – most notably his brother Prince William.
Harry wore an awkward smile as he was forced to watch the event from his relegated seat in the third row – while his sibling took centre stage alongside Kate Middleton.
Earlier, at the late Queen’s funeral in September last year, Prince William and Harry managed to put aside their feud slightly better to remember their grandmother, as they interacted with each other in the chapel at Windsor Castle.
William was seen walking to the end of the pew while holding back his son Prince George next to wife Kate Middleton and daughter Princess Charlotte, as he beckoned for Harry and Meghan to walk past them.
As for the King’s relationship with his brother, Prince Andrew, the problem remains as to what to do with him, after he was already stripped of his official roles and the use of HRH.
According to aides, King Charles has no desire for Andrew to ‘come out of the freezer’, while attempts to remove Andrew from his abode Royal Lodge and into Frogmore Cottage – the Sussex’s previous home – seem to have been halted.
According to The Times, a royal source thinks that ‘Andrew is more of a long-term problem than Harry and Meghan.’
They added: ‘It feels like more stuff is going to come out on Epstein and there are still unexploded bombs there.’
