The King has spent the day in Croydon, South London, today where he visited the bustling Surrey Street Market and celebrated his 78th birthday a day early
The King was mobbed on a visit to one of Britain’s oldest street markets before schoolchildren serenaded him by singing ‘Happy Birthday’.
Charles, who turns 78 tomorrow, marked his birthday a day early at Surrey Street Market, which is celebrating 750 years of trading. Crowds of stallholders and shoppers gathered to catch a glimpse of the monarch, who also watched performances by a local Bollywood band and dancers and was presented with a birthday cake to cut.
During his tour, he was often unable to move a few metres without being surrounded by excited well-wishers, who were eager to shake his hand.
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One business he visited was Oree Mart, an Asian convenience supermarket located on Surrey Street and co-founded by Amber-Rose Badrudin, a candidate and finalist on The Apprentice.
While inside, he spoke to the store’s owner, Michael, about its expansion and whether all the products needed to be imported.
The King, who will mark his birthday in private tomorrow, also reunited with George Whatle, who has been trading at the market for 25 years and who showed His Majesty an array of jerk chicken, pork and oxtail.
He also met Kevin Allagapen, who is a certified nutritionist and told the King about his mission to make Croydon a healthier place with his Amati juice and fresh fruit stall, adding: “I know he’s quite conscious about health”.
He also handed the monarch a raw juice with pomegranate inside, after Charles told him he liked the fruit.
After, the King said his birthday cake was “brilliant” as he cut a generous slice while listening to children and students from Howard Primary School and Shirley High School Performing Arts College chant “happy birthday Your Majesty”.
It came after he was also mobbed by screaming teenagers as he visited the inspirational BRIT School, also in Croydon, earlier today.
Hundreds of excited creative arts pupils met him outside the building, screaming his name, as his police officers struggled to stop him from being crushed.
“Yes, boss!” shouted one, making Charles chuckle. “King Charles, oh my days!” yelled another.
The world-famous BRIT School boasts alumni including Adele, Amy Winehouse, Tom Holland and RAYE, alongside thousands of performers, designers, technicians, producers and professionals working across the UK’s creative industries.
When he arrived, he was greeted by fashion students who held an impromptu catwalk show including an inflatable ‘lifeboat dress’.
He then went to watch a ‘powerful’ performance by students Daisy and Fatima about youth on youth crime and chatted to them afterwards about the community projects they undertake.
Charles also met his old friend, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, a long-term supporter of the school who accompanied him to watch a performance from the musical Chess.
Upstairs in the digital suite, he learnt about the wide variety of talents nurtured at school, including animation and gaming, but volunteered that he might stick at his age to watercolours.
Downstairs, his visit was marked by a ‘flash mob’ medley, with the King asking the students afterwards in genuine admiration how they remembered all their moves.
Outside, so many students had gathered screaming his name that the King decided to plunge in and say hello, shaking hands and asking them about their courses.
One boy could be heard shouting that he had shaken the monarch’s hand. “You’ll be shaking his car’s wheels as well if you don’t stand back,” said a member of staff. But the student replied: “I don’t care, I’ll die happy!”
Principal Stuart Worden said afterwards: “This is life-changing for students. A lot of these young people come from challenging backgrounds, they can’t afford guitars, they can’t afford dance lessons. So for people from those backgrounds to have access to the monarch, the King, is quite powerful.”
He added: “For the head of state, the King, to come to this school in Selhurst today, it is inspiring for them to know that they have been seen.”
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