The King who loves Sunderland: Memories of visits in 2015 and 1985
There’s something about Sunderland that King Charles lll loves.
He has been a regular visitor to Wearside and often stayed hours beyond his schedule just so he could chat to people.
An honour to meet you, Your Highness
In 2015, the then Prince of Wales toured Sunderland’s Nissan plant, to see the all-electric Leaf family car being built.
He also chatted with students including Venerable Bede Academy pupil Krista Shaw, 14, who was among the pupils on a week-long visit as part of the nationwide Industrial Cadets scheme.
"My friend told me Prince Charles was coming - she had the article on her phone, she was that excited, " she said at the time.
‘I didn’t think I would meet him. It was unbelievable’
"So I did know he was coming, but I did not think I would get to meet him - it was absolutely unbelievable. He was asking about what we were doing and how this would help us in the future."
Classmate Jack Hamill was taken aback to find himself chatting with the VIP visitor.
"It was a fantastic experience, " he said. "I did not expect him to talk to us."
The Prince who loves to chat to the people of Wearside
Charles clearly loved Wearside on his 1985 visit. He ran an hour late on his schedule because he got so engrossed in chatting to the locals.
And when he left, he promised that he would be back soon.
There was a motorcade arrival and huge crowds to greet him, including Yvonne Phuphrate who was there with her sister Fiona McBride, from Hendon.
Yvonne said: "He does an enormous amount of good work for young people. He is always putting a lot of work into schemes to benefit them."
The Prince was visiting the Community Venture Project in St Thomas Street which he himself had initiated. In fact, he loved it so much it was his second visit there in four months.
Tell us if you got to meet Charles in 2015 or 1985.
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