Sgt Donald C Todd/ UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023

The King and Queen spent Wednesday in Northern Ireland with a full day of engagements on their first visit after the Coronation. The King met with Det Ch Insp John Caldwell, a police officer shot in February in front of his son. 

King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted a garden party at Hillsborough Castle, their official residence in Northern Ireland. DCI Caldwell was among the garden party guests, and The Queen spent several minutes speaking with him at the party. However, this was not the police officer’s only royal audience. 

Before the garden party started, The King met with DCI Caldwell privately. 

Caldwell was shot several times outside a sports complex in County Tyrone on 22 February. He was in the hospital for nearly two months and was able to go home on 20 April. While in hospital, he underwent several life-saving surgeries, and his recovery will continue for much longer. 

The garden party is DCI Caldwell’s first public appearance since 22 February. 

Police believe the shooting is connected to the New IRA, a dissident republican group. The attack was widely condemned by political leaders from Northern Ireland and Great Britain as a whole. This April marked the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, a political treaty that sought to ensure peace between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after more than 30 years of conflict.

Before the Hillsborough Castle garden party, the couple met with hundreds of well-wishers and schoolchildren at Newtownabbey when they opened the new Coronation Garden at Hazelbank Park. The Coronation Garden was designed by Diarmuid Gavin, who uses the same sustainable gardening as The King does in his own gardens. They were even treated to a cake in the shape of St. Edward’s Crown, the crown used during The King’s crowning at Westminster Abbey.

The King and Queen will be spending Thursday in Northern Ireland, as well.