The King may have been crowned during a historic ceremony, but that did not stop a four-year-old girl presenting him with a paper crown on a visit to Norfolk.
Charles received his gift during a visit to open the new Priscilla Bacon Lodge hospice in Norwich, where patients are given a boost every mid-morning – the offer of a tipple from a drinks trolley.
Little Arielle Bayliss, whose mother Rebecca Turner has stage three melanoma, made the crown for the King and everyone in the room wore colourful crowns made during a crafts session with a hospice volunteer.
Ms Turner, 31, who was joined by her partner Jonathan Bayliss and mother Nicki Turner in her private room, told the King about her treatment: “I’ve been on a roller coaster of up and down but I’m very happy here.
“And the staff, I feel like I’m a princess – we have Baileys at 11 o’clock.”
He added: “And Stone’s Ginger Wine or something.”
The new hospice complex replaces an old site and opened in September, close to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, providing a modern palliative care unit, inpatient beds, a day unit and a wellbeing centre.
Charles began his visit by visiting a breathing clinic, where patients are taught to control their breathing to aid their wellbeing.
The King smiled and the other patients laughed when the 78-year-old added: “She very rarely lets me go anywhere on my own. She never has done actually, when I had a head of hair, all the women used to be after me.”
