King Charles visits Beds for first time as monarch
His Majesty is meeting members of the community in Luton
Last updated 6th Dec 2022
King Charles is visiting Luton today for the first time since becoming Monarch.
Visit to Luton Town Hall
The King arrived at the Town Hall at approximately 11.20 this morning, and was greeted by the Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire and the Mayor of Luton.
He was met by local groups and members of the community including those from The Ghana Society, as well as servicemen and women, and the Luton Town Football Academy.
Chatting to members of the academy ahead of the visit, 14-year-old Kyron explains his families feeling ahead of him meeting the King: "My dad is really happy, so is my mum, but my dad is really happy because he works in the police force so he's really happy that I'm meeting the King."
Nine-year-old Sonny agrees: "My parents are really proud of me because it's going to be the first royalty we meet in my family."
And when asked what Luton has to offer the King, Kyron explains: "Diversity and a lot of multicultural people and backgrounds, and different cultures to experience. So I think it's going to be very good for King Charles to see and he's going to be happy."
Visit to Guru Nanak Gurdwara
His Majesty also visited the Sikh temple, Guru Nanak Gurdwara, where he met various members of the congregation, including volunteers from the Luton Sikh Soup Kitchen Stand.
The soup kitchen operates outside the Town Hall every Sunday between 6-7pm where they serve around 150 meals to those in need including members of the homeless population.
Professor Gurch Randhawa, member of the congregation and the Deputy Lieutenant, greeted the King on the next stage of his visit.
Professor Randhawa said: "The whole community is feeling so proud that His Majesty the King is taking out the time to visit their Gurdwara and hopefully shine a light on the work that they do."
Visit to Luton DART Parkway Station
The final stop on His Majesty's tour was to see the new cable-drawn mass passenger transit system which will connect the station to the airport.
There, the King was entertained by Luton Youth Orchestra, and he also got the chance to meet construction workers who had worked on the DART project. The King was shown the technology that is used as part of the transport system, and he also enjoyed a short ride to Luton DART Centre terminal.
