King Charles was affectionately offered a crown - a paper one - on the first official engagement of his State Visit to Germany on Wednesday.
He was undertaking a walkabout at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin when he came across a number of well-wishers who were wearing Burger King crowns given away by the fast food giant.
One man took his off and tried to press it into the king’s hands, saying politely: “This is for you, if you want it.”
Charles smiled broadly and said: “I’m alright!” He, of course, has a number of real ones at home.
He also grinned and declined another crown from a woman who said: “I have a present for you.”
The King has become the first foreign head of state to be welcomed to Germany with full ceremonial and military honours at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate since the Second World War.
In a sign of just how significant both the British and German governments are treating his inaugural State Visit, the monarch, accompanied by his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, were greeted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and wife, Elka Büdenbender, with full pomp and ceremony.
Welcome ceremonies usually take place at Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the President.
The couple arrived in their State Bentley, which has been brought to Germany specially, at Pariser Platz and posed for a short photocall with their hosts with the historic monument behind them.
One of Berlin’s most important landmarks, it was commissioned by King Frederick William II and finished in 1791.
After the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate became a memorial of division, as it was located in the restricted area and could not be visited by East or West Germans.
After the fall of the Wall, the gate became a symbol of German unity.
The two couples then walked, chatting warmly, towards the Gate where the President and the King stood on a dais for the playing of the National Anthems and the raising of their respective flags.
His Majesty was then invited by the President to inspect the Guard of Honour as the Prussian Inspection March was played.
Afterwards the men and their spouses split up to greet some of the 1,500 members of the public, including pupils from local schools, members of the Royal British Legion, and British Embassy staff and families, who had been allowed to welcome them.
Some of the crowds were carrying home-made welcome banners or carrying flowers, while several ladies were wearing garden party-style hats.
The King made a point of shaking as many hands as he possibly could asking several students where they went to school.
When one told him she had recently been to London he said: “Oh marvellous. You found your way around? Oh, you went to Buckingham Palace!”
Another lady shouted: “Welcome to Germany Your Majesty” and the king beamed broadly.
Julie-Ann Brooker, from Kent, was left shaking after meeting the monarch.
She said: “He asked me if I had come far and I said ‘from Kent!” It was such a wonderful moment, he was a lovely, lovely man. My husband has just started a job here. I can’t believe that I have come to Germany and met His Majesty. It’s a moment I will never forget.”
Another man gave the king a series of photographs of him serving the then Prince of Wales fish and chips on an earlier visit, while another shouted: “Have a nice time in Germany.”
A little Hadley Drake, eight, got away with telling the king firmly to “wait” while she took a picture of him on her brightly-coloured toy camera.
The British youngster, who was being carried by her father at the front of the crowd, told the monarch that she wanted to get a better shot of him - and scooped the waiting press photographers by being rewarded with her own brief personal photocall.
“Wait!” she declared. ‘Hey you look…..’ but the king never got to hear how her picture had come out.
