On King Charles’s visit to Lancashire today he gave an interesting piece of advice to a 101-year-old veteran who served in the D-Day landings. Charles met Richard Brock at a reception at Lancaster Castle on Monday and remembered him from a visit to Normandy last year.
After asking Mr Brock’s age, King Charles said: “You are fantastic.” As he left, he added, cheekily in four words: “Keep drinking the whisky.” Mr Brock, who served with the East Lancashire Regiment, told PA after his meeting with the reigning monarch: “He just told me I was amazing for my age.”
His son Tony Brock, who attended the reception with him, said: “He mentioned a nip of whisky and said to keep taking it.”
In Lancashire, Charles took part in a ceremony of keys outside the castle, a tradition which dates back to 1851 when the keys were presented to Queen Victoria and which Queen Elizabeth II participated in in 2015.
Once inside the grounds of the castle, which was a prison until 2011, the King met local business owners who were showcasing their work.
Charles expressed his love of cheese, telling Gillian Hale, from Butlers’ Farmhouse Cheeses, he loved sheep’s cheese on a digestive biscuit – and she kindly offered to send some cheese to the king “in a goody bag”.
The King was also given a neck tie and some gloves for the Queen from Northern Yarn. Business owner Kate Makin said: “He was really interested in the regenerative farming and the local wools we use.”
A Fijian choir formed from the First Battalion of The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment – made up of serving Fijian Kingsmen, veterans and their family members – performed for the King, who told them he was sad not to have been able to visit the country last year.
He said: “They wouldn’t let me go, I was desperate to go there.”
Last year, the King had scaled back some public engagements following his cancer diagnosis in early 2024.
Schoolchildren from local secondary schools including Ripley St Thomas and Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School lined the route outside the castle accompanied by a performance from a military band.
Pupils from Willow Lane Primary School were also chosen to go to the ceremony and greet his majesty.
Mrs Amanda Parker JP, who is the King’s representative in the county, said it would be “a very special occasion”.
As reported in Lancashire Post, she said: “I am delighted that His Majesty is coming to Lancashire and look forward to introducing him to many Lancastrian businesses and community organisations. This is a very special occasion for our county.”