The King delighted crowds yesterday as he embraced his mother’s legacy of working to advance the cause of “peace and reconciliation” while visiting Northern Ireland.
Charles and wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, chatted with flag-waving well-wishers at Hillsborough Castle before he shook hands with a Sinn Fein politician.
And it conjured memories of Elizabeth II’s momentous 2012 handshake with IRA leader turned politician Martin McGuinness, which became a potent symbol of healing for the Troubles.
Many supporters pitched up at Hillsborough, the royal residence just outside Belfast, in the early hours with deckchairs and sandwiches to bag a prime spot as Charles continued his UK tour marking the Queen’s passing.
Rita Martin, 89, from Mountvale care home in nearby Dromore, was among the first to arrive in the normally quiet Co Down village.
She said: “We got here about 7am. This is exciting. King Charles has had a lot of training from his mother and he’ll excel.
"She had a wonderful reign and a warm heart.”
Inside, the sentiment was echoed as Sinn Vein Vice-President Michelle O’Neill hailed the Queen’s contribution to forging peace in the province after 30 years of the Troubles.
First Minister-designate Ms O’Neill told the King: “Her life and legacy will be fondly remembered by those of a British identity here who with great pride and devotion held her very dear.
“She led by example in advancing peace and reconciliation and the building of relationships with those of us who are Irish, and who share a different political allegiance and aspirations to herself and her Government.
“I hope this continues now that you are King and the British-Irish relationship strengthens and evolves as one era ends, and a new one begins.”
Stormont Assembly Speaker Alex Maskey also said the Queen had not been “a distant observer” in the transformation and healing between loyalists and republicans.
Her Majesty made history in 2012 by shaking hands with ex-IRA commander McGuinness, who by then was a Sinn Fein politician and the province’s Deputy First Minister.
A year earlier, her state visit to the Irish Republic – the first by a British monarch since its independence from the UK a century earlier – was another milestone.
And she delighted guests by speaking a few words of Gaelic at the start of her state dinner speech. Mr Maskey said: “She showed a small and insignificant gesture – a visit, a handshake, crossing the street or speaking a few words of Irish – can make a huge difference in changing attitudes and building relationships.”
In response to the condolences, Charles referenced the Royal Family’s grief when the Queen’s cousin, Lord Mountbatten, was assassinated by the IRA in County Sligo in 1979.
Charles said that throughout the Troubles, the Queen “never ceased to pray for the best of times for this place and its people, whose stories she knew, whose sorrows our family had felt and for whom she had a great affection and regard”.
He added: “My mother felt deeply, I know, the significance of the role she herself played in bringing together those whom history had separated, and in extending a hand to make possible the healing of long-held hurts.”
Ahead of the meeting, Charles had embodied his mother’s spirit as he interacted warmly with the crowds waiting outside.
Valerie Hamilton, who left home with her family at 5.30am, said: “We have been standing here since about 7.30am and we’re very excited to see our new King but it’s a sad occasion too with his mother passing away.”
Liz Kernoghan, from Ballymena, said: “It’s history in the making, really, to see the first King in 70 years.
“We’re sort of in limbo at the moment and you don’t know whether to be sad for the late Queen or cheering the new King.”
Earlier, at Belfast City Airport, two children had presented Charles and Camilla with chocolates and flower. and he asked them: “Are you enjoying your day off school?”
Lucas Watt, 10, said: “He said it was a pleasure to meet us and that we are getting a day out of school.
“I felt anxious but, when it was over, happy and I’m probably going to look back at it for a long time.”
His pal Ella Smith, also 10, said she was “shocked but happy” to have met the new King.
As Charles left Hillsborough, the crowds cheered, clapped and waved Union Flags. His convoy then travelled to St Anne’s Cathedral for a service of reflection, also attended by Prime Minister Liz Truss and Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
