Royal news live: King Charles given rare Sydney honour after ‘snub’ as Kate Middleton issues powerful tribute

Visitors to Dumfries House in Scotland can now dine in the very same spot as King Charles, where they will be able to experience an 18th-century feast in his favourite room.

Charles takes most of his evening meals in the Pink Dining Room while staying at the Scottish stately home in Ayrshire.

Now his charity, The King’s Foundation, is offering a new private dining experience, allowing members of the public the opportunity to enjoy a three-course meal, authentic to the 1700s and served by a traditional butler, in the royal chamber.

Guests will eat at the King’s table – but not in the presence of the monarch – beneath the 35kg Murano glass floral chandelier, which was painstakingly reassembled after being found in the basement in more than 100 pieces nearly 20 years ago.

Menus will be based on 18th-century dishes, such as poached salmon, fish soup, and manchet bread for starters, followed by roasted venison and beef, parmentier potatoes and a juniper sauce, and lemon and pistachio syllabub, bread and butter pudding, and apple and almond trifle for dessert.

King Charles was visibly delighted when he was gifted a knitted cake stand to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his charity’s textiles programme.

Charles, 75, accepted the gift in Ayrshire, Scotland where the King’s Foundation set up Future Textiles in 2014.

The programme, which exists in several forms, has now expanded across the UK and was established to address the skills gap in the UK’s textile industry.

Jacqueline Farrell, education director at The King’s Foundation, said: “Initially, Future Textiles benefitted secondary school-age pupils by introducing them to the beauty of making and ensuring they understood the technical sewing and craft processes that are so vital to responsible fashion design and manufacturing.

“Due to the incredible support of the industry and our partners, the programme grew rapidly and now offers a huge range of courses ranging from day workshops and weekly community groups, to full-time courses which provide students with the skills needed to start their own businesses and gain employment in the industry.”

The monarch, 75, who is patron of the organisation, enjoyed an hour of classical music on Tuesday (15 October), which simultaneously celebrated the UK’s relationship with the Italian city of Genoa.

Following the performance, the King met with officials and the 57th winner of the prestigious Premio Paganini international violin competition, Simon Zhu, 23.

Ms Paris, 40, from Midlothian, Scotland, will be honoured by the Prince of Wales after completing some of the world’s toughest races.

This includes the gruelling 100-mile Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, which she became the first woman to complete in March of this year, crossing the finish line with 99 seconds to spare from its 60-hour cut-off.

Taking to the official Kensington Palace Twitter/X account, the heir to the throne, 42, wrote: “Exciting times for @England, with a generation of talented players and a new manager taking the reins.

“Thomas, wishing you the best of luck, we’re all behind you! W.”

King Charles is set to be given a rare honour at Sydney Harbour as he kicks off his nine-day tour of Australia and Samoa on Friday.

The white sails of the Sydney Opera House will be lit up for four minutes with images from previous royal visits to mark the arrival of the monarch and Queen Camilla.

This tribute was given the go-ahead by the New South Wales government at an estimated cost of around £50,000.

King Charles last visited Australia in 2018, when he opened the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Taking to the official Kensington Palace Twitter/X account yesterday (15 October), Kate, 42, shared a picture of a candle and wrote: “Baby Loss Awareness Week is such an important moment to support those who have experienced the devastation of baby loss.

“Sending love, strength and hope to anyone affected. #WaveofLight C”

The Princess of Wales has ramped up her return to public duties by making a surprise joint appearance with Prince William to meet the bereaved families of the Southport attacks.

Marking their first joint engagement since Kate’s cancer treatment, the couple privately met the families in Merseyside last week.

The Princess, 42, is said to have attended because she wanted to show her “support, empathy and compassion to the local community”.

“Meeting the community today has been a powerful reminder of the importance of supporting one another in the wake of unimaginable tragedy,” the couple later said in a joint statement.

Steve Davies, who worked for the duchess in Toronto during the early part of her relationship with Prince Harry, told InTouch magazine: “My wife and I got invited to the wedding, that’s how close we became,” he said. “I would work with her again, not a problem at all. She was a good person to work for, and she still is a good person.”

“[Meghan] gets a bad rap for being a not very good person to work with, that she was this evil person in the Royal Family.

“The staff at Buckingham Palace [said they] couldn’t stand working for her,” he said before adding: “[But] nobody had a bad word to say about her [in Toronto].

“Even with the pressure that she was under, she was warm and considerate all the time.”

Earl Spencer has revealed that he is in a new relationship with a “brilliant” archaeologist months after announcing his third marriage had come to an end.

Announcing the news, he explained that they had met when Cat Jarman came to dig up a lost Roman villa on the Earl’s land.

The pair subsequently began a popular history podcast with Reverend Richard Coles called The Rabbit Hole Detectives.

The late Princess Diana’s brother told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Cat Jarman, who is my partner now actually. She’s a brilliant archaeologist.

“It sounds like an Alan Partridge title, but she is Nordic Person of 2024, which is usually handed out to someone like Sven-Goran Eriksson or a composer to be Nordic Person of the Year.”

Earl Spencer was most recently married to Karen Gordon between 2011 and September of this year.