King Charles III makes unannounced visit to Northern Ireland

King Charles III looks at a display of The King's Rose in London, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Adrian Dennis/Pool Photo via AP)

BELFAST, United Kingdom -- King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Tuesday arrived in Northern Ireland on an unannounced visit, Buckingham Palace said.

The royal couple began their visit at Thompson Dock, one of the city’s main tourist attractions and the last place that the Titanic stood on dry ground before her doomed maiden voyage in 1912.

The ship was built at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city before being finished at Thompson Dock.

Braving the rain and unseasonal spring temperatures, Charles and Camilla enjoyed a performance of traditional Irish music and dance and tried out some of the instruments.

They met organizers and performers of the all-Ireland Fleadh, the world’s largest festival of traditional Irish music.

Belfast is due to host the festival for the first time in August.

Charles, 77, who is still undergoing treatment for an undisclosed cancer, has made numerous trips to Northern Ireland over the years both as king and heir to the throne before the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2022.

The visit comes a day after Irish President Catherine Connolly said Charles had “graciously” accepted an invitation to Ireland after the two heads of state met at Buckingham Palace.

That trip is expected to take place next year and would only be the second such visit by a British monarch since Ireland’s independence in 1921.

The late queen paid a state visit to Ireland in 2011.

Connolly met Charles on Monday on the first day of an official visit to England.

AFP