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In Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee year, is UK ready yet for ‘King Charles’?

  • Queen Elizabeth this year marks 70 years on the throne as Britain’s longest-serving monarch
  • Attention turns to Prince Charles, the queen’s oldest son, as the UK royal family maps out its future

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Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Britain’s Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, take part in Lunar New Year celebrations in London’s Chinatown on February 1. Photo: AFP
Hilary Clarkein London

The attendance of Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, at London’s Chinatown’s Lunar New Year festivities last week was a high profile boost for the district as it recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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There had been some concerns in Chinatown of how to celebrate the Lunar New Year after a confrontation between pro-Beijing groups and newly arrived Hong Kong immigrants there last November. This came amid spiralling relations between the UK and China, a traditional sponsor of what, pre-pandemic, was usually the largest Chinatown Lunar New Year celebration outside Asia.

But the surprise visit of the couple sporting red scarves delighted crowds as they walked through a throng of curious locals, behind dancing lions to the sound of beating drums.

They then held a meeting with community workers from the Chinese Information and Advice Centre (CIAC) about hate crimes against Asians.

“He is really befitting of a king,” said Edmond Yeo, chief executive of CIAC who hosted the visit.

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“We were all a bit nervous trying to work out what we should say, but in the end, it was all very easy. He put us all at ease immediately.”

The royal visit to London’s Gerrard Street also marked an auspicious start to celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne, and gave some flavour of what the UK could expect from its future king.

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