King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted a Garden Party at Hillsborough Castle in Belfast on the afternoon of May 24th, on the first day of a two-day visit to Northern Ireland, which is their first visit following their Coronation this month. There are usually four annual Garden Parties hosted by the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyrood House for around 30,000 guests yearly, as well as a few special others, which include this one at Hillsborough Castle, the Official Royal Residence in Northern Ireland.
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The King and Queen (wearing the Queen Mother’s Rock Crystal Brooch) invited over 2,500 guests drawn from a wide cross-section of Northern Ireland society, including the voluntary and community sectors, local charities and youth organisations, who have made positive impacts in their communities. As President of the Royal Voluntary Service, the Queen met some of the exceptional volunteers who were selected as Coronation Champions. King Charles and Queen Camilla also planted a magnolia tree to mark their Coronation, as the late Queen did in 1953.
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Earlier, the King and Queen (wearing Queen Mary’s Celtic Knot Brooch) opened the new Coronation Garden at the Hazelbank Park in Newtownabbey, before meeting schoolchildren who have been taking part in Coronation-themed projects, as well as members of the community who volunteered for local charities during the Big Help Out over the Coronation Weekend, and recipients of The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, The King’s Award for Enterprise and The Duke of Edinburgh Bursary. On arrival at Hillsborough Castle, the King and Queen congratulated children from Blythefield Primary School, who have been selected as one of the winners of Historic Royal Palaces’ national Coronation Benches competition, before the King met the Northern Irish First Minister.
