At least it wasn’t a pen! King Charles gets the giggles as he tries his hand at making good luck charms during visit to crafts centre
- The King was hailed as a ‘visionary’ during his visit to la Galerie du 19M in Paris
- King Charles and Queen Camilla are on day two of their three-day state visit
King Charles got a fit of the giggles as he tried his hand at making Mexican good luck charms on a visit to a crafts centre today.
The King was hailed as ‘visionary’ as he visited the centre dedicated to preserving couture skills.
At 19M in the north of Paris he met six graduates of an embroidery course run jointly with Chanel and the Prince’s Foundation who had created an embroidery inspired by his garden at Highgrove.
Eliza Kate Gomersall, 23, from Hildenborough, Kent talked him through her embroidery work, which was inspired by the Stumpery at the King’s Gloucestershire residence as well as Japanese art.
Looking at her sketches, the King, himself an accomplished painter, asked: ‘Are these all done in watercolour? Absolutely brilliant.’
King Charles got a fit of the giggles as he tried his hand at making Mexican good luck charms on a visit to a crafts centre today
The King grinned as joined in on the crafts session during a visit to la Galerie du 19M in Paris
The King was in a fit of giggles and looked overjoyed during his visit to gallery in Paris today as he took part in making Mexican lucky charms
King Charles III joins in with a craft with students and artisans during a visit to la Galerie du 19M in Paris, on day two of the state visit to France
The King was hailed as ‘visionary’ as he visited the centre dedicated to preserving couture skills
At 19M in the north of Paris the King met six graduates of an embroidery course run jointly with Chanel and the Prince’s Foundation
She said afterwards: ‘He was really enthusiastic and interested in keeping this craft alive and keeping it current.’
Elsa Searle-Vincent, 25, from Exeter, told the monarch how her work was based on a moss-covered fountain in his garden.
‘What’s fascinating about it,’ he replied, ‘Is how many species there are, and the extraordinary colours – the emeralds.’
Another graduate told the King her work was based on the sunlight on the apple trees in the kitchen garden at Highgrove.
Earlier he and the Queen were introduced to the graduates of the six-month course as they sat around a long table working on embroidery making up a giant meadow-design.
The King – who had a separate tour – crossed the courtyard of the 19M building in the pouring rain to the sound of applause
The King was given rapturous applause by the 600 employees who had come out on to the balconies to watch him below
Inside the workshop the Queen was invited to have a go at weaving, with the French President’s wife Brigitte Macron, next to CEO of Chanel Leena Nair (Pictured: right)
‘Do you think it’s improved your skills?’ asked the monarch. Told it had, he asked: ‘But then having done that, what to do next? Hopefully more of this!’
The King, who was joined on the visit by foreign secretary James Cleverly, spoke of the importance of nurturing traditional skills in the UK, ‘to try and start building domestic capability.’
Walking through to the Maison Lesage tweed workshop, the Queen examined a wall full of tweed samples, at which point Brigitte Macron urged her: ‘Choose one, Your Majesty.’
The Queen replied: ‘All of them!’
Inside the workshop she was invited to have a go at weaving. As she sat down at the loom she said: ‘This could be a terrible mistake!’
The Queen tried her hand at weaving tweed on a traditional loom in the Maison Lesage, during her visit to la Galerie du 19M
The Queen examined a wall full of tweed samples, at which point Brigitte Macron urged her: ‘Choose one, Your Majesty’
Queen Camilla looked at samples of woven fabrics in the Maison Lesage tweed section of la Galerie du 19M in Paris
The Queen wore an elegant white coat over her her monochrome patterned dress as she took over from the rain using a transparent umbrella
The Queen looked a little nervous, prompting Macron to say: ‘Your Majesty, I am with you.’
‘You can help!’ replied Camilla.
But after the Queen had a tentative go, Macron told her: ‘Perfect! You did it.’
The Queen joked: ‘It’s obviously the next job for me.’
As the King – who had a separate tour – crossed the courtyard of the 19M building in the pouring rain, he was given rapturous applause by the 600 employees who had come out on to the balconies to watch him below.
Back under cover, His Majesty was introduced to the ethical fashion designer Carla Fernandez, whose Mexican art-inspired work is on display at the centre and who had flown in from Mexico especially for the visit.
Earlier he and the Queen were introduced to the graduates of the six-month course as they sat around a long table working on embroidery making up a giant meadow-design
King Charles III, Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron watched artists in the Maison Lesage embroidery section of la Galerie du 19M in Paris, on day two of the state visit to France
King Charles III met with Paris’ residents today after visiting the Flower Market earlier today
King Charles III and Queen Camilla also visited Notre Dame in Paris today, on day two of the state visit to France
French President Emmanuel Macron shook hands with King Charles III during their visit to the Museum of Natural History to meet business leaders and talk about biodiversity
French President’s wife Brigitte Macron, President Emmanuel Macron, Queen Camilla, King Charles III and Paris’ mayor Anne Hidalgo walk to visit to the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral
‘Is it going well?’ he asked her. ‘And am I going to get a glimpse?’
He was presented with a gift of local honey from the Aubervilliers suburb before moving on to meet local children making milagritos, jewelled Mexican good luck charms.
As he approached the table where they were working, Nathalie Abscheidt, a jeweller with Goossens running the workshop, asked if he would like to have a go himself. ‘Who, me?’ he laughed. ‘Yes, you!’ she said.
READ MORE: ANOTHER pen disaster! Angry King Charles III tells flustered courtiers he ‘can’t bear this bloody thing’ as his pen leaks while signing a document at Hillsborough Castle – before calm Camilla saves the day
Encouraged to sit down and add some gem stickers to a heart-shaped piece, he opted for a yellow one, told it would ‘bring happiness’.
He giggled as he was applauded and told ‘bravo’ for his efforts before turning to chat to some of the children taking part in French.
‘He loved the fact that he was doing the workshop at the same time as the children,’ said Abscheidt.
Before leaving, the royal couple were presented with embroidered handkerchiefs bearing their cyphers and an embroidered artwork depicting the wrought iron gate overlooking the Sundial Garden at Highgrove.
The King joked, modestly: ‘There are much better French gardens.’
Speaking after the visit, Hubert Barrere, creative director of Maison Lesage, hailed the monarch as ‘a visionary’, saying: ‘It’s a historic moment for us and a great moment to receive the King and Queen.
‘Your King is a visionary man. When he decided to create the Prince’s Foundation in the 1970s, nobody imagined the problems of today – not just in terms of [craft] know how, but also the ecological problems.
‘He’s not snobbish and a very interesting guy. He took time with the students and was very open minded. It’s good to have a king with an open-minded mentality – he’s a man of today.’
Source: Read Full Article