King and Queen kick off final day of Northern Ireland visit – LIVE updates

The King and Queen have kicked off the final day of their three day visit to Northern Ireland with a visit to Newtownards.

Bringing Their Majesties’ NI visit to a close, The King and Queen are visiting the Co Down town and its community.

The King is visiting Ards Allotments, which was founded by Maurice Patton after watching Charles visit an allotment on the news more than 20 years ago.

Charles is meeting the community of volunteers, gardeners and growers who use the allotment space to grow fresh produce as well as forging social connections.

Elsewhere Camilla is set to meet survivors of domestic abuse being supported by Women’s Aid in Newtownards.

The royal couple arrived in Belfast on Tuesday. Their latest Northern Ireland visit began with a vibrant celebration of music, creativity and rich, diverse cultural heritage, as they joined organisers and performers to mark Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann coming to Belfast this August, for the first time.

The King and Queen also visited Titanic Distillers where they met distillery staff, learned about the whiskey‑making process and had the opportunity to sample some themselves.

In the afternoon, the royal couple went their separate ways. The King visited the W5 Life (Learning Innovation for Everyone) programme, at Belfast SSE Arena, which works in partnership with the King’s Trust, Microsoft and Almac to build Stem capability and open up new career pathways.

Meanwhile Queen Camilla visited Fane Street Primary School, which has 285 pupils representing 45 countries and speaking 47 different languages.

Later during audiences at Hillsborough Castle, King Charles and Queen Camilla greeted First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

On Wednesday, The King received an unwanted memento from a visit to Newcastle where he celebrated the work of local charities – a splattering from a seagull. The Queen carried out a solo royal visit in Royal Hillsborough which included pouring a pint of Guinness.

The royal couple ended their day by hosting a garden party at Hillsborough Castle, the King’s official residence in Northern Ireland, and the Queen met soldiers and officers from The Rifles, the regiment she serves as Colonel-in-Chief.

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