I was with Charles on his last working day as the Prince of Wales – he hosted me with typical generosity
WHEN I met with Charles at Dumfries House in Scotland on Wednesday, he was still HRH the Prince of Wales.
Little did he or I know when we spoke, the next day he would be King.
Twenty-four hours later he received the worst news possible, his beloved mother and our adored Queen had died and the nation was plunged into mourning.
I saw Charles on what was to become his last working day as the Prince of Wales, before he rushed from Ayrshire to his mother’s bedside in Balmoral the next morning.
With typical generosity, Charles hosted me, to learn more about some of the amazing stories of medics nominated in our Who Cares Wins Awards.
And our meeting was of course captured by our legendary royal photographer Arthur Edwards, who has been photographing the Prince for more than 40 years.
READ MORE ON THE QUEEN'S DEATH
As always, His Royal Highness was extremely courteous and fascinated to hear about the heroic efforts of some of Britain’s health heroes.
But I have met our now King a number of times in the past and I could tell he wasn’t himself.
He looked under strain, like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
During our chat, I showed His Royal Highness the first picture of his grandchildren, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, starting a new school, which had been released to the media shortly before our meeting.
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He was delighted by the sweet snap, but looked emotional, almost close to tears for a moment.
When I have met him in the past he is always jovial and cheery, often making a quip, followed up by a big laugh.
But this time I felt that lightness was missing. It is something I thought about a lot on my journey home.
But it is testament to Charles’s strength of character that, despite what must have been a gravely developing situation with his beloved mother’s health in the background, he completed a full day of meetings and engagements at Dumfries House on Wednesday.
That day he also spoke at the Global Allergy Symposium, hosted at the historic property.
There he promised the parents of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse — who died of a severe allergic reaction after eating a Pret sandwich — that his foundation would partner their work.
When I arrived, staff also told me Charles always takes a daily walk around the Dumfries estate whenever he is in residence.
Staff joke about how their boss is always plotting some new offshoot of the foundation programme, which offers vocational training in an array of areas to young people from local communities in Ayrshire, one of Scotland’s most deprived areas.
It is this passion, work ethic, drive and compassion which will no doubt carry King Charles III forward as our monarch.