Pictures by Edmund Smith-Asante. All Rights Reserved ©
My first time seeing the King of the United Kingdom, King Charles III, in the flesh
was on November 3, 2018 at Jamestown in Accra, when I covered his visit to the
community on a very hot day.
Five years ago, the then Prince of Wales referred to as Prince Charles was
accompanied by his wife, now Queen Camilla, who was then the Duchess of
Cornwall.
Time has not only flown, but levels have also changed with Prince
Charles (heir apparent), being crowned as the King of the United Kingdom and 14
other Commonwealth realms.
His coronation at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday, May 6, 2023, makes him the oldest monarch to
be crowned in British history, and first King after the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI and mother
Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned for 70 years.
One can also state that he has been the only heir apparent in the British Monarchy to have waited
this long, having been only three years old when his mother acceded to the
throne in 1952.
An elated then 10-year-old sensation, DJ Switch aka Erica Armah Bra-Bulu
Tandoh, couldn’t have put it better when she described her meeting with the Prince
thus: “I am short of words. In fact, I feel very happy speaking with the Prince
and playing for the prince. One thing that got me surprised was that every
Prince is somehow young; and I was surprised that he is old and a prince. That
is when I realised that Queen Elizabeth has been a queen for a long time.”
Visit
Well during his visit in 2018 and my encounter with him, King Charles
who wore a grey suit and Queen Camilla in a cream attire, came prepared for the
harsh weather as they both spotted their sun shades when the sun got
unfriendly.
The Queen had in addition an umbrella and a kente-designed fan, with
which she would occasionally fanned herself to cool the blazing rays of the sun
on her skin.
The royal couple who were accompanied by the wife of Ghana’s Vice-President,
Samira Bawumia, began their tour at the ArchiAfrika gallery, which displayed a
mixture of architecture art, intriguing designs and photography. Some of the
splendid art works were that of late global icons, former South African
President Nelson Mandela and boxing legend, Mohammed Ali.
As if that was to usher them to the citadel of Ghanaian boxing, then Prince
Charles and Duchess Camilla also watched some boxing exhibitions that were
supervised by no other than Ghana, Africa and global boxing great, Azumah
Nelson, affectionately called the Boxing Professor among other endearing
accolades.
Also on hand to receive the august guests was the then World Boxing
Organisation (WBO) Super Bantamweight Champion, Isaac Dogboe.
They were also entertained with some football joggling skills by some
youth. While the couple watched in admiration and amazement they would occasionally
shout “not here” when the football strayed in their direction. That always drew
laughter from the people around.
Let’s reminisce the King’s last visit to Ghana through the lens of
#Edmages
#Royalty #canonshots #Kingcharles #coronation #Unitedkingdom #British #buckinghampalace
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