Making a whirlwind two-day visit the king and queen see the crowning glory of northern ireland’s coronation celebrations

W eeks after they were crowned at Westminster Abbey, the King and Queen were once again sitting proudly on a throne, only this time it was in Northern Ireland.

Their Majesties tried out the ornate bench, decorated with a crown, sceptre and orb, after being introduced to its designers – a group of primary schoolchildren who were among the winners of a competition to mark the coronation.

“Shall we give it a go?” asked the King, sitting down on the bench in the grounds of Hillsborough Castle, the monarch’s official residence in Northern Ireland and where the couple were hosting a garden party. “It’s wonderful,” the Queen told the youngsters from Blythefield Primary School in Belfast.

Earlier, Their Majesties had unveiled a new Coronation Garden in Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, featuring an ornate pavilion bearing their names and topped with a crown – along with a giant disco ball.

“It’s a bit like the glitterball from Strictly,” said the Queen.

The couple were in high spirits as they cut a crown-shaped cake. “I’ll have to get someone else to tell me what it tastes like,” the King said.

They were equally captivated by a group of “dancing” trees that twirled to Morecambe and Wise’s signature tune Bring Me Sunshine, thanks to mechanical devices under the soil.

“I thought I was seeing things – maybe there are two little leprechauns under there,” said the Queen, as the King peered down to get a closer look at the shrubs, which are part of a new community space transformed by designer Diarmuid Gavin.

GREETED BY CROWDS

In their first tour of Northern Ireland since the coronation, Their Majesties spent two days meeting community volunteers, church leaders and politicians in the province.

Day two saw thousands turn out to catch a glimpse of the royal visitors in Armagh, where the Queen visited a historic library and the King attended a service for faith leaders of different denominations at St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral. It was an engagement his mother Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to fulfil in October 2021, but had to cancel on medical advice.

At the 18th-century Armagh Robinson Library, the Queen, wearing an emerald green Fiona Clare dress and an emerald diamond Cartier brooch that had be