Watch: King meets star Raye at Battersea Power Station
King Charles got into the festive spirit with an enthusiastically received visit to a Christmas market in Battersea Power Station in south-west London.
A community choir was singing the carol We Three Kings as he arrived – and they had at least one real-life King there in person to listen.
“You must be frozen. You’ll need a stiff drink,” the King said to the singers, outside in the December drizzle.
The King also met Apple chief Tim Cook at the computer firm’s UK headquarters in the huge former power station building, before singer Raye gave them a seasonal serenade of “Holy Night”.
Much of the power station is now a glitzy mall and Christmas shoppers got more than they bargained for as the King appeared, walking past the window of Starbucks.
There can be something wistful about even the most cheerful carols – and it’s been a difficult year for the King, with his health problems.
But he looked cheerful here, talking to some rather gobsmacked stallholders under the Christmas lights. He always seems energised by the crowds, joking and chatting.
When he was being steered on to the next part of the trip, he still dived across for an impromptu meeting with shoppers, shaking hands and facing the wall of mobile phones.
The trip to the power station seemed to recharge him.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
He was introduced to 90-year-old Rita Kelly, who had worked here in the 1950s when the turbines were pumping out power for the capital, and who said she was “honoured” to talk about her memories with the King.
“Working here was a very happy time,” she said. Although she said the King seemed to know about her “mischievous” side, when as a youngster she’d misguidedly tried to go upside one of the huge chimneys.
Not even Father Christmas would have risked that one.
