The King's visit to Grimsby draws cheering crowds on rainy day
He's visited the Horizon Youth Zone
Last updated 6 hours ago
The King told dozens of well-wishers “I’m so sorry you got so wet” as he thrilled crowds with an impromptu walkabout in the pouring rain.
Charles was greeted by around 500 people as he left a community hub in a wet Grimsby town centre on Thursday.
He headed over to the crowds, covered by a brolly but with no coat over his light grey suit, and he spent around 15 minutes shaking hands and chatting – mainly about the weather.
As he was about to get into his car to leave, there were shouts for him to go over to another section of the public behind the green barriers, who cheered when he decided to head to them for another chat.
When he arrived earlier for his visit, Charles chatted to teenagers about boxing, rock climbing, scout badges and cooking as he began a tour of community projects.
The King was greeted with cheers as he arrived at the Horizon Youth Zone on Tuesday and he waved at the 100 or so wellwishers who braved the rain outside.
Inside Horizon, the King toured the state-of-the-art facility chatting to local school children, cadets from the various armed services and scouts.
They showed him the centre’s climbing wall, sports hall and training kitchen, where he watched teenagers make pizza muffin as he asked them about how they felt about missing school for the day.
“I have my uses,” he joked, as one girl said they had missed their maths lessons.
He finished his visit to the centre in the boxing gym where he chatted to youngsters being put through their paces.
The Horizon Youth Zone opened in February for young people aged eight to 19, and up to 25 for those with additional needs.
The centre offers activities ranging from sports to cooking, creative and performing arts, media and employability support.
Blundell Park
Charles was presented with a personalised Grimsby Town Football Club shirt with the number three and “HM King Charles” on the back by the Mighty Mariner mascot at the club’s Blundell Park in Cleethorpes, north-east Lincolnshire.
Dozens of people waited in the downpour for the King’s arrival at the football ground, holding umbrellas, Union flags and a banner with Charles’s face on it, while those in neighbouring houses peered from their upstairs windows.
The King met people and organisations involved in the Our Future collective, a charity to create citizen-led change, to talk about their plans for Grimsby.
Simon Beeton, chief executive of Navigo, the mental health provider in Grimsby, said the King was “clearly very well connected” and offered the help of his head forester to plant trees in the town.
He said: “The guys who were looking at 10,000 new trees for Grimsby, for example, he’s going to put them in contact with his head gardener. It’s like wow, he wasn’t passively listening, he very actively listens.
“The fact he’s chosen to come to Grimsby to see the work we’re doing here and got excited about it – he has made that commitment that he will send us the details of his head forester.”
Francine Orr, ticket office manager for the football club, laughed with Charles when he met members of staff.
She said: “We were briefed on what we should say and what we shouldn’t say, how we should bow and how we should curtsey.
“I’ve had it in my brain all morning then he comes up to me… and he shakes my hand and I said ‘All right darling, oh no, I’m so sorry Your Majesty’.
“He went ‘That’s OK’, and he laughed and he stood back and he went ‘I like being called darling’.”
She added: “He was so down to earth. Lovely, lovely man. It was so good he’s come to Grimsby to meet everyone at Grimsby Town.”
Crystal Ness, operational lead for Our Future in north-east Lincolnshire, told the Press Association that the King was “impressed” by what they were doing which “validates” the work of local organisations.