3 weeks ago
15
12 minutes ago
Mark SimpsonCommunity correspondent, BBC News NI
PA Media
The King is visiting Ards Allotments on the final day of his visit to Northern Ireland
King Charles III has arrived in Newtownards, County Down for engagements on the final day of the royal visit to Northern Ireland.
The King is visiting Ards Allotments, which was founded by Maurice Patton after watching him visit an allotment on the news more than 20 years ago.
He is also meeting the community of volunteers, gardeners and growers who use the allotment space to grow fresh produce as well as forging social connections.
Both the King and Queen Camilla were in County Down on Wednesday. The Queen met local businesses in Hillsborough, while the King travelled to the seaside town of Newcastle.
PA Media
The King is meeting volunteers, gardeners and growers who use the allotment space to grow fresh produce
This is his 43rd visit to Northern Ireland, first as Prince of Wales and now as King.
No date has been confirmed but it is expected to take place next year.
The King's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, paid a state visit to Ireland in 2011, the first by a British monarch since Irish independence.
The first visit by the King to Northern Ireland was back in 1961 with his mother, his father the Duke of Edinburgh and his sister Princess Anne.
