On 8th September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles became King Charles III. The oldest person to ever ascend to the British throne, Charles spent most of his life as prince and his mother’s heir. He spent much time serving the Royal Family and travelling to engagements across the country, and Hertfordshire was no exception. Sometimes nicknamed “Prince of Herts” (just as his mother was called “Queen of Herts”), King Charles has visited the county on many occasions.
In February 1978, Charles visited Watford to officially open the YMCA building in Charter Place. During his visit, around 5,000 people gathered in the High Street to catch a glimpse of him. He also went to lunch at the town hall as part of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Appeal Fund – 500 people paid £10 each to also attend the lunch. The Prince was 30 minutes late to the lunch due to poor weather, and the roast beef was already sliced and ready to serve and thus going cold, but it was later fondly recalled that everybody was too excited to mind.
A decade later, Charles was back in the county, this time to tour Ling Dynamic Systems Limited in Royston. As well as meeting staff members and unveiling a plaque, he was greeted by the Lord Lieutenant for Hertfordshire, Simon Bowes Lyon, a relative from the Queen Mother’s side. It was noted by staff members that Charles had an impressive knowledge of the highly specialised technology that the company made, showing his interest in the places he visited.
Spirella was originally known for their corsets and swimwear, but in January 1999 Prince Charles visited them in Letchworth to see the results of their £10m transformation of the old factory into a “digital pathway to the world”. The Heritage Foundation worked hard to restore the old factory which became a hub for businesses, and the Prince met old Spirella workers as well as local entrepreneurs who had been helped by his foundation, the Prince’s Trust.
1999 also saw Charles visit several other places in Hertfordshire, including Elstree Film Studios and the Wheels Community Project at Stevenage. At Elstree, he opened two new sound stages, visited television sets, and met 92-year-old Eric Cross who had started working at the studios when it first opened back in 1926. Meanwhile, the Wheels Community Project linked in with Charles’ passion for funding youth projects, as the group provided opportunities for young people aged 16 to 24 who were struggling to get started in work.
It is not always work that has brought Charles to Hertfordshire, though, considering the Royal Family’s personal links to the county. In 2002 he attended a service of thanksgiving at All Saints, St Paul’s Walden, for the life of the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth. He joined members of the Bowes Lyon family, and then spoke to members of the congregation after the service. As a royal, there is little time for rest, and once the service was over Charles was flown by helicopter to Potters Bar to visit victims of the serious rail crash which had happened just the previous day. Even in his youth he had great fun in Hertfordshire, playing alongside the Cambridge University Polo Team in Essendon when he was 20 years old.
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