‘How old are you King Charles?’ Question during visit to Walthamstow youth charity sums up gulf between monarch and youngsters seeking understanding
They’ve both been in their new roles for a very similar time, and despite questions about how people would feel about King Charles following the much-loved Queen, he’s so far fared better than Liz Truss just down the road at Number 10.
But at times of political turmoil, you can’t help but think about the role of the monarch.
We talked about it so often when the Queen was alive, how she was a symbol of continuity for many when everything else seemed in turmoil.
Now with the government in a state of flux, the country feeling unsettled and a cost of living crisis, can her son be that same unifying and reassuring figure?
Back in London for their first joint engagement, the King and the Queen Consort had come to see the work of Project Zero in Walthamstow.
A ‘getting to know what matters to this community’ type of visit, all centred around a truly inspiring organisation set up by Stephen Barnabis after two of his teenage cousins were stabbed to death.
Getting kids out of gangs, away from crime and supporting all young people to achieve their potential in this borough, not just those who are disadvantaged, is what they’re all about.
‘How old are you King Charles?’
But it was a primary school pupil who summed up a potential issue for the new King when it comes to really understanding what matters, especially to a younger crowd.
“How old are you King Charles?” they said, the King replying, “you’ll have to guess”.
He is 73 and Camilla is 75. It is a huge age gap from the teenagers and young people in their twenties that they would meet during the visit, who were certainly not all devoted royal fans, as I found out chatting to them afterwards.
One of the youth workers Nia Gichie told me: “I believe that before this visit our young people saw our Royal Family as them and us.”
But she added that the interest shown by the King and Camilla really struck the groups they spoke to.
“I think they got that realness from them, and for our young people to actually have access, to have those conversations with their majesties, is something that they will always remember,” she said.
‘I’ve seen a different side to them’
Rebecca Huggins supports other young people after Project Zero helped her, and admitted she never used to be that interested in the royals.
“If I’m being honest, I never really had that attachment to the Royal Family but, seeing them today, I’ve seen a different side to them, I’ve seen a personal side to them, and they really seem invested in making a change.”
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Rebecca was in care and in an abusive relationship. She couldn’t believe it when Camilla bothered to ask if she’d been getting support.
“We had a nice little heart-to-heart,” she explained, adding that it came as a big surprise that the King “had some banter”.
King Charles III and the Queen Consort with Project Zero founder Stephen Barnabis (right)
‘You can see what the visit has meant’
Stephen Barnabis, who set up the charity, told me he felt the visit had changed some people’s perceptions of the Royal Family.
“You can say for a lot of young people the relevance of them is a conversation, it is a discussion, but I think you can see the excitement, you can see what the visit has meant,” he said.
From private conversations he had with them, he also sensed the King and Camilla genuinely want to know more about the current pressures people are facing.
“We’ve gone from COVID, to war, to the energy costs and the crisis, and they’ve kind of been there in the forefront and really interested in what’s going on across the country. I can actually see that in talking to them today,” he added.
‘He can make change’
Natasha Johnson is currently living in temporary accommodation with her seven and 14-year-old sons after a fire broke out at their flat close to the youth centre during the summer heatwaves.
She told the King about it and seemed surprised at how it played out.
“I thought he was going to be very cold and very reserved, but no, great eye contact, and it just felt really relaxed,” she said.
With everything that’s going on in politics, she told me that the short meeting with the King really did matter.
“He’s the voice of the people, he can make change, and he’s very passionate about these sorts of things… he was more concerned about the aftermath of, ok there was a fire, but what happens next.”
Smiling, she added: “I felt held, I felt kind of contented as well that he understood and listened and so did the Queen as well.”
‘Our head of state is utterly useless’
You do get a different perspective from organisations such as Republic, the anti-monarchy group.
Their chief executive Graham Smith tweeted in the past couple of days: “We are entering another period of constitutional uncertainty, the only certainty being that our head of state is utterly useless #AbolishTheMonarchy #NotMyKing”.
And yes, this was only one visit, to one charity, in one part of London.
But the King and Queen Consort just going, making the time to stop and to listen, appears to have meant a great deal at a moment when people there feel the government doesn’t have the capacity or stability to truly deal with the day-to-day problems that matter to them, and no doubt many others across the United Kingdom.
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
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Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
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