King Charles and Camilla open Coronation Garden in Northern Ireland

Just poppy-ing in! King Charles and Queen Camilla receive a floral welcome in Northern Ireland to open a new Coronation Garden – but one young fan doesn’t seem so keen!

• The royal couple arrived to open the new garden in Newtownabbey this morning 
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King Charles and Queen Camilla enjoyed a royally warm welcome as they arrived in Northern Ireland this morning.

The couple arrived ahead of their two-day visit this morning, and were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers in Newtownabbey, where they opened a new Coronation Garden, erected to mark King Charles’ ascension to the throne earlier this month.

Charles looked dapper in a blue suit and appeared in great spirits as he was met with royal fans of all ages in the beautiful garden, which was in full bloom. Meanwhile, the Queen, dressed in a mint green dress, appeared in her element as she received a jolly welcome from a group of pupils in uniforms at the entrance of the green space. 

Although, in one particular image, a very young royal fan didn’t seem so keen on being introduced. The baby, wearing a headband featuring two Union Jack flags, appeared to be crying as Camilla greeted crowds.

It is the first time that King Charles and the Queen are visiting Northern Ireland since his Coronation on May 6, and the couple have a busy schedule ahead of them. 

In one particular image, a very young royal fan didn’t seem so keen on being introduced to the royals. The baby, wearing a headband featuring two Union Jack flags, appeared to be crying as Camilla greeted crowds

King Charles and Queen Camilla enjoyed a royally warm welcome as they arrived in Northern Ireland this morning

The couple were all smiles as they were greeted by a group of well-wishers in the town, in County Antrim, just north of Belfast this morning. 

They were welcomed by the Lord-Lieutenant of Co Antrim David McCorkell, mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey Stephen Ross and North Belfast MP John Finucane (Sinn Fein). 

The couple were serenaded by school children and took some time to chat with the youngsters before officially opening the gates to the Coronation Garden. 

Queen Camilla seemed delighted to be welcomed into the town by a group of schoolchildren, and waved at them gently.

She was wearing an elegant green day dress, which she paired with a pashmina for the occasion, and later wrapped up with a trench coat over her shoulders. 

Meanwhile, an enthusiastic King Charles was spotted having a laugh with a member of the public attending the event and also chatted to the same children, who were orderly stood in three rows. 

After chatting with locals, the royals stood in front of the gardens’ imposing white and blue gate, which had been propped with a large blue bow to mark the occasion of its opening. 

Once inside, the Queen was startled by spinning trees inside the garden as the couple took a closer look at the different species of plants on display. 

The Queen, dressed in a flattering mint green day dress, appeared in her element as she received a jolly welcome from a group of pupils in uniforms at the entrance of the newly designed green space

King Charles arrives to open the new Coronation Garden in Newtonabbey on day one of a visit to Northern Ireland with Queen Camilla 

The couple appeared in great spirits as they arrived at the garden ahead of a two-day visit to Northern Ireland 

King Charles and the Queen waved to the children who had bene waiting to welcome them to their towns 

An enthusiastic King Charles was spotted having a laugh with a member of the public attending the event and also chatted to the same children, who were orderly stood in three rows

King Charles III meets with children from Whitehouse Primary school as he opens a new Coronation Garden in Newtownabbey

Queen Camilla greets the crowd after a visit to open the new Coronation Garden on day one of their two-day visit to Northern Ireland

Hello there! King Charles (pictured right) attends the opening of the new Coronation Garden in Newtownabbey

Queen Camilla greets school children during a visit to open the new Coronation Garden

The gate had been propped with a ribbon to mark its royal opening this morning. The Queen’s dress also matched the colours of the garden’s fencing 

The Sovereign stood in front of the garden with two officials to declare the new garden open. Both their names have been written on the gate’s doors 

King Charles and his wife looked both delighted to have arrived in Northern Ireland ahead of their visit today 

The couple, accompanied by an official, took a look at the garden’s imposing white and blue gate 

The garden was just a disused bowling green until the local authority seized on the idea of turning it into a community garden in honour of the new King and Queen as part of its project to green-up the area. 

Designed by Diarmuid Gavin, the garden – which has a huge ironwork structure topped with a crown and a glitter ball – was created to appeal to the King’s ‘whimsical’ sense of humour.

The beds, packed with bee and butterfly friendly flowers, even containing ‘dancing’ topiaries and spinning conical trees that move every 15 minutes to the tune of either Pure Imagination from the Charlie and The Chocolate Factory film or Morcambe and Wise’s Give Me Sunshine.

Their Majesties formally opened the garden by unveiling a large set of gates with their names on them – King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

They spent time meeting the designers of the garden and representatives of other community and charitable organisations.

They were told how the garden marks the beginning of a new green initiative for the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla cut a cake during a visit to open the new Coronation Garden

During the stop-off, the King and Queen (pictured) met with the designers of the garden as well as representatives of community and charitable organisations

Their Majesties formally opened the garden by unveiling a large set of gates with their names on them – King Charles III and Queen Camilla

It is the first time Charles and Camilla (pictured) have visited the region following their coronation earlier this month

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris hosted a brief private audience with the King (pictured together) and Queen, before they attended a garden party and planted a tree within the grounds of the Hillsborough Castle to mark the coronation

Garden designer Diarmuid Gavin said his team had been working around the clock in recent months to prepare the garden, and described his inspiration as ‘whimsy’ to mark the coronation as well as engaging with people of all ages.

‘They were wonderful – I got to spend a little bit of time with them, we went into the quiet garden with the water dancing and they were asking me where the plants came from, the idea behind the design, and they couldn’t have been nicer,’ he said.

The King smiled as Bring Me Sunshine played, while Camilla described the garden as not what she had expected, but complimented it as ‘absolutely lovely’.

Following the garden visit, the King and Queen went on to Hillsborough Castle in Co Down, the royal residence in Northern Ireland.

They met with pupils from a local primary school who have taken part in a competition to design coronation benches.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris hosted a brief private audience with the King and Queen, before they attended a garden party and planted a tree within the grounds of the castle to mark the coronation.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was among those in attendance at Hillsborough.

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill did not attend the event.

However she said representatives from the party will be present at events during the two-day visit.

‘Yes, I think there’s a whole raft of engagements and some of our MPs will be at local events in their constituencies,’ she told reporters after a meeting with the secretary of state at Hillsborough castle earlier on Wednesday.

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