King Charles was seen sharing a joke with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner as both attended a special meeting to discuss how police are tackling all forms of violent behaviour
King Charles appeared to share a giggle with Angela Rayner as the pair teamed up for a special event.
The pair have been meeting with representatives of a police initiative that targets all forms of violent behaviour. The King met with Deputy Prime Minister for the meeting as well as members of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU), their partners, as well as The King’s Foundation and the King’s Trust today at Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
There he heard reflections on how to identify the root causes of violence and how support can be increased for young people. He also learned about the SVRU’s experience of using a public health approach to identify, understand and address the underlying causes of violence. The SVRU works to identify innovative, evidence-based solutions to violence.
The unit is made up of police officers, civilian police staff, and people who are experts by experience. The SVRU works closely with colleagues and partners across health, education, social work, housing and many other fields using a public health approach to reducing violence.
This means using data to analyse violence, look to understand the causes, test and evaluate what works and for who, and seek to scale up effective programmes through appropriate partners.
The Dumfries House estate is the headquarters of the King’s Foundation charity, first founded in 1990 by the King, as Prince of Wales. The charity offers education courses for more than 15,000 students annually, health and wellbeing programmes for more than 2,000 people every year, and spearheads placemaking and regeneration projects in the UK and overseas to revitalise communities and historic buildings.
The King’s Trust, formerly the Prince’s Trust, believes that every young person should have the chance to succeed, no matter what their background or the challenges they face. Charles’ outing with the Deputy PM today comes after his return to work following his summer break. Yesterday, he met dozens of serving submariners at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD) at Coulport, part of HM Naval Base Clyde.
There he thanked Royal Navy submariners for their service to the country during the visit to the base in Argyll and Bute. The King also went aboard a Vanguard-class nuclear-capable submarine, where he spoke to crew members about their roles and thanked them for their commitment. He later met gold deterrent pin holders – submariners who have been honoured for their efforts in nuclear deterrence.
Meanwhile, last week, the King issued a candid warning after being mobbed by a group of female rugby players for a rare group hug. The monarch looked surprised as he was asked for a hug by New Zealand women’s rugby player Ayesha Leti-I’iga during a reception for the team dubbed the Black Ferns at Buckingham Palace. The event came as details of his first major tour since his cancer diagnosis were released, with the King travelling to Australia and making a state visit to Samoa for a Commonwealth leaders’ summit.
But he will not travel to New Zealand and he told the players: “I’m extremely sorry I can’t come to New Zealand in later October because of doctor’s orders, but I hope there’ll be another excuse (to come) before not too long.
“But in the meantime, give my love to New Zealand, please, and New Zealanders, we get lots of nice Kiwi coming here in this part of the world as well, so we are very lucky indeed.”