King Charles tried his hand at DJing during a visit to Manchester, spinning tunes and engaging with young people supported by his charity. The monarch was touring Aviva Studios, home to the city’s arts organisation Factory International, where he met beneficiaries of the King’s Trust.
Aspiring DJ Christian St Louis, 22, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, invited the King to try the mixing table. Guiding Charles, Mr St Louis explained: "First, you load up the tracks and then play this one … there are so many buttons. Once you know what to do, it’s easy."
As the King attempted to master the controls, an onlooker commented: "It’s not as easy as it looks, is it?" Charles laughed, replying: "I’m trying to get the hang of it."
Mr St Louis, formerly from east London, told the King that taking a DJing course through the trust had been “more than helpful”.
He said: “I always wanted to DJ. Now I know I can do it.”
He said he was looking for a job to save up and buy his own decks, with a goal of bringing out his own EP music recording.
In 2024, the King’s Trust joined forces with the Elba Hope Foundation, a public charity founded by actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina to launch Creative Futures, a range of free courses designed to inspire young people through the arts, building their skills and confidence to work in the creative industries.
Elba was supported by the King’s Trust, formerly the Prince’s Trust, when he was a teenager.
Another beneficiary from the King’s Trust, Mariama Gallow, 19, from Manchester, read her own poem to the King.
Ms Gallow undertook a creative music course and went on to learn about health and social care.
Charles told her he had already seen an example of her poetry which Elba had shown him on a piece of film.
He said: “It was fantastic. Really, really good.”
Charles also met young people who had learned skills in stage construction such as lighting, sound and production through the Factory Academy based at Aviva Studios.
Creative Futures has helped more than 100 young people across Manchester and is now supporting young people in other parts of the UK.
Launched in 2018 by Factory International, the Factory Academy aims to provide accessible career pathways into the creative industries and boost creative skills across the region.
The Factory Academy has collaborated with the King’s Trust to deliver programmes from Creative Futures.
Charles unveiled a plaque to mark his visit before he was treated to a performance outside by a choir from the Royal Northern College of Music.
The King spoke briefly to members of the public who gathered outside the city-centre venue including child-minder Jodie Pownall, from New Mills, Derbyshire, who brought along one-year-old twins Teddy and Kuba, two-year-old Jackson, and Ronnie, Stevie and George, all aged one.
They were rewarded for braving the rain as Charles posed for a photograph.
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