King visits London market after braving summer showers

North Wales Chronicle

4 days ago

Charles toured Old Spitalfields Market after visiting the nearby South by SouthWest London (SXSW London) festival, where he was welcomed by the Kingdom Choir, who performed at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding.
The market on Thursdays features stalls selling vintage items, and Charles perused the silverware, old photos and arts and crafts from places like Indonesia and Persia.
Shoppers were kept back but Charles shook hands with many of the stallholders, including Paul Brimmer, not part of the royal tour, who told the King: 'I've got a stall with watches, I'll give you a special discount,' then added: 'You don't carry cash.'
Peter Filosidis's table was covered in knick-knacks and Charles asked him where he found the items. Mr Filosidis said afterwards: 'It was amazing to meet the King. It's the King for god's sake, it's the King.'
He said he had seen him once or twice at the opera, which the antique hunter attended regularly.
Earlier Charles walked from the main SXSW London site at the Truman Brewery in the rain, holding an umbrella, to the crypt of Christ Church, Spitalfields, the venue for the SXSW exhibition Beautiful Collisions, showcasing artists whose work draws on their Caribbean heritage.
Denzil Forrester, one of five artists featured, discussed his painting of figures with the King and told him he found inspiration sketching in clubs till 5am.
'Are you sure? You should be in bed,' quipped the King.
The six-day SXSW London is a culture, technology and creativity festival being held in Shoreditch, east London.
It is the first time the event, which began in Austin, Texas, US, has been held in Europe.
It showcases the future of the creative industries, supporting emerging artists and innovative projects, and features a number of discussions, exhibitions and networking events.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was among those who greeted the King when he arrived, after she had appeared earlier at the festival speaking about sustainable communities.
Other speakers during the six-day festival have included former prime ministers Sir Tony Blair and Lord David Cameron, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and actor Idris Elba, speaking to delegates on a range of issues from AI to healthcare and creativity in communities.
Charles also toured the immersive art installation Grounding, where artist Damien Roach has used AI and data to create modern landscape images of mountains, woodland scenes or the sun's corona during a total eclipse.