The King At St Anne's Cathedral

He's almost impossible to find, but the king is in this photo.

R and I actually had no idea he was arriving in Northern Ireland until my mother messaged me about it. She wanted a photo and this was the best I could get.

There was actually a gathering right in front of the cathedral but I didn't know about it until I got home. Annoyingly, had I followed the Google Maps directions properly I would've ended up there instead. Oh well.

Poor R couldn't see a thing. She's only 5ft and could only gather what was happening from periodic photos I had taken. It was hard to see what was going on myself, but I correctly guessed which grey-haired, black-suited figure was the king. Wasn't even sure I saw him until I watched footage later on.

One person I did recognise was Irish president Micheal D. Higgins. I noticed a car with an Irish (as in Republic of Ireland) license plate and a short, round, mostly bald man stepped out. He basically looks like Irish Danny DeVito.

There was a woman right in front of us who was very very vocal. She would shout "God save the king!" over and over and was shocked that other people weren't shouting with her. This was well before he even arrived. Many more people shouted it once his car came round, which evolved into a choir singing "God Save the King" although many of them kept accidentally singing "Queen" out of habit. The previously mentioned woman couldn't even get the unchanged words right.

She also handed out small Union Jacks around to those who wanted them. Normally this wouldn't be of note considering I come from England. But this is Northern Ireland, where the use of these flags often come across as aggressive displays of loyalty. R was particularly uncomfortable with this, especially keeping in mind Northern Ireland's history. That said, why would any nationalist, republican or anti-monarch be in attendance?

On the way there I overheard someone saying "There's supposed to be big protests, apparently". We saw no protests, no unrest, nothing. Which was a nice surprise! I was wondering how people would respond to his presence in the current political climate of Northern Ireland, but I suppose if the Irish president was happy to attend, do many people really care that much anymore?

The extra photo where you can actually see King Charles was taken by R's aunt before shaking his hand. I have a feeling she was going to do it whether he liked it or not.

Didn't speak to the letting agent today due to suddenly wandering into Belfast to see the commotion. Although they got back to me regarding the key situation, of all things.

If King Charles doesn't get himself some King Charles Spaniels I'll be very sad.