A host of stars joined the King to celebrate his charitable foundation, but it was rock royalty Sir Rod Stewart who stole the show with a cheeky joke at David Beckham’s expense.
Sir Rod was presenting an award at St James’s Palace, at the first award ceremony for the King’s Foundation, the monarch’s charitable trust.
Asking to say a few words, the star, who was given a knighthood in 2016, said: “Penny and I are so honoured to be ambassadors for the King’s Trust.”
Lady Penny corrected him: “Foundation.”
“B*******,” Sir Rod laughed, adding: “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Image: Sir Rod Stewart let a swear word slip on stage
He then said cheekily: “I am also wonderfully honoured to be a knight and, David, yours is coming soon.”
Beckham shook his head and laughed, with Sir Rod later saying he could take a joke.
The former England captain was announced as one of the foundation’s ambassadors last month, when it was revealed he’d spent time with the King talking about beekeeping and how to get younger people connected to nature.
The football star, who said at the event he had cuts on his hands from planting roses at the weekend, often shares videos on his social media accounts of his gardening projects and much-loved chickens.
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But this time it was football the King wanted to talk about, asking about England’s defeat to Iceland on Friday ahead of the Euros.
Image: The King and Beckham agreed on the outlook for England at the Euros. Pic: PA
Beckham appeared to say “no, no, I don’t think we should read too much into that”, with the King replying: “It doesn’t really matter, does it? It was a warming-up session.”
Nodding, Beckham said: “Warming up. We’ll be okay.”
The King then offered his own words of wisdom: “Because you don’t want to expend it all in one go at the beginning.”
That left Beckham to sum up: “We’ll be ready, Gareth will be ready.”
The King’s Foundation incorporates many of the monarch’s passions, aiming to revitalise communities through urban regeneration and planning and support sustainable food production and teach rural skills.
Image: Sir Rod Stewart shares a joke with the photographer. Pic: PA
The event was attended by other celebrity supporters, including broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh, former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, model Naomi Campbell and actress Sienna Miller.
The monarch presented the final award of the evening, the King Charles III Harmony Award, to South Korean diplomat and former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
The King, despite still undergoing cancer treatment, appeared determined to talk to as many people as possible. Sir Rod said he’d told the King he’d had similar procedures.
His wife, Penny Lancaster, added they had nothing but admiration for him and his commitment to service, after spending time with him at the ceremony.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.
JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.
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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.
“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.
Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.
Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.
Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.
In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.
They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.
The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.
Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.
“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
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Image: Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.