Jewish News readers share their memories of meeting the new King

A right royal meet and greet!

In November 1970 Prince Charles came to Leeds to open the new Yorkshire Post building. The secretaries were lined up along the open space and Charles strolled past, stopping at me. He asked what I did and if I was bored. With the CEO right behind him, I meekly lied: “Not at all”. The next day my mum bought 36 newspapers. Judy Poleg

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Last month we were visiting the Scottish Highlands for the first time. We happened to be driving through the village of Ballater, which is the closest village to Balmoral and noticed one or two policemen on the street. We thought this might mean that the king was in the area so decided to park up and take a look. It turned out that King Charles and Queen Camilla were officially opening a new restaurant in the village called The Fish Shop. Around 12 people, mainly locals, were waiting for them to come out so we joined the crowd. The king came out and was about to get straight into his car when Richard, my husband. congratulated him on the upcoming coronation and he came over to shake his hand and have an impromptu chat with the crowd. I also congratulated him and he said: “What for?” My response was: “We are waiting to see!” Laura Barnett

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I met Prince Charles when I was a teacher at Yavneh College. He made a visit to the school in 2017. It’s easy to forget that, whilst our whole school community had been building up to this day with immense excitement, this could have been just another royal engagement for the then-prince. Instead, I was struck by how King Charles seemed to make a conscious decision to buy into the special atmosphere. I will never forget his positive energy and the careful attention that he gave to every individual, whether staff or student, who that he encountered on that day. Adam Cohen

Back in 2017, just before my 18th birthday, I was extremely privileged to have met King Charles whilst representing JLGB at Yavneh College. At the time, I was Sergeants Mess President and was given the honour of taking him round the hall showing him the incredible work that JLGB do for the community. He was very engaging and I was taken aback by how friendly and approachable he appeared. He genuinely seemed interested in the work that we were doing as well as my role within the organisation. Shira Conway

I met Prince Charles at a reception at for just 50 people Clarence House in October 2013. I was one of three volunteers chosen from over 1,000 who were volunteering for the Rugby League World Cup, which was being staged in England. The other attendees were mainly rugby players, officials and people from the tournament organising committee. Prince Charles spent a few minutes with each group. I remember we were speaking about the tournament itself, what we were doing to volunteer and so on – it was a very special moment and one which I will never forget. The whole event lasted about 90 minutes and His Royal Highness was in the room for an hour. Daniel Musikant

I was invited to Buckingham Palace for a drinks reception to meet Prince Charles in January 2018. This was an evening for a select few Macmillan Cancer Support volunteers (I’ve been a volunteer for over 20 years). We were put into small groups and he came round to shake our hands and say hello. I was honoured that he stopped to chat with me; he asked what I do for the charity and what prompted me to volunteer, so I told him my background story as briefly as I could. He then asked me quite a few questions and we had some banter back and forth. He showed a sincere interest in my story and had a brilliant sense of humour. He definitely had a cheeky twinkle in his eye! We chatted for well over five minutes – it was a fantastic experience and a memory for life. Julia Fenton Hodes

In 2009 there was a reception at Clarence House for a selection of Help the Aged staff. That was the year that the charity merged with Age Concern to create Age UK. I had worked for Help the Aged for around 12 years, mostly as PA to the Director of Fundraising. I remember mentioning to Prince Charles how long I had worked for the charity. I can’t remember his comments back but I was thrilled that he actually spoke to me! I took home a few sheets of ‘royal’ toilet paper from Clarence House (although it didn’t look particularly special!). Zila Golbert

I met Prince Charles at a Board of Deputies reception at Buckingham Palace in 2019. I was still a university student and he told me that we didn’t work as hard he did at university! It was a very important night for me as it was the first time I met my girlfriend Nina, so I suppose that Charles is actually our shadchan. Nathan Boroda

In July 2005, my husband Geoffrey and I were invited by the then Prince of Wales to lunch and a tour of the gardens at Highrove. This was a thank you from him to employers who had kept jobs open for employees who volunteered to fight in Iraq. It was a wonderful and memorable day. Stella Sternberg

Prince Charles visited my school, North London Collegiate in 2005. Before he arrived, we were given hours of lessons on how to refer to him, how to courtesy and how to wave flags but of course, that goes out the window when you’re dealing with seven-year-olds. He came into our Design and Technology lesson (pictured) and I remember trying to tell him that my great grandfather cut the Williamson pink diamond for his Mum when she was a princess in 1948. I’m sure that he couldn’t understand a word of my seven-year-old mumbles but made the effort to listen regardless; he seemed very friendly and kind. Georgia Bron

Our news editor @CohenJust reflects on our new King’s constant support for the Jewish community.

Long live the King!#Coronation pic.twitter.com/Vn8yacU20G

— Jewish News (@JewishNewsUK) May 5, 2023