King Charles left ‘very touched’ as girl, 6, presents him with festive drawings at Advent service for Coptic Christians

• Taormina from Hertfordshire had been waiting with her father to offer the cards
• READ MORE: Kate Middleton and King Charles will carry out their first joint engagement since Omid Scobie race row 

King Charles III was left ‘very touched’ after a little girl gifted him a Christmas sketch at an Advent Service and Christmas Reception at The Coptic Orthodox Church Centre in Hertfordshire today.

The young guest, called Toarmina, six, had been sitting on her father’s shoulders with two handmade cards, waiting to greet Charles, 75. 

One read: ‘Happy holidays!!! King Charles! BOOM!!! Merry Christmas!! To King Charles.’ The other had a giant love heart and also read: ‘Happy holidays XXX’.

Taormina confidently approached the British monarch to offer his first public Christmas card, which featured the charming hand-drawn red creation.

Feeling ‘very touched’ at the handmade offering, Charles thanked the little girl before greeting other guests.

King Charles got in the festive spirit today as he attended an Advent Service and Christmas Reception at The Coptic Orthodox Church Centre

Charles, who has worked for many years to encourage interfaith dialogue in the UK and around the world, had previously visited the Egyptian Christian church as part of a series of engagements with ‘diverse communities’ around the country.

He was keen at the time to express his solidarity with Christians in the Middle East suffering for their Faith. The church is now very much established in the UK.

After being greeted by The Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and Bishop of St Albans, he was formally welcomed to the Coptic Orthodox Church Centre by The Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London, His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos.

He wrote in a foreword to the service that the congregation was ‘deeply honoured’ to receive a second a visit and a time when they were gathering to ‘pray peace upon our war torn world, and comfort and support for the millions suffering today, at a time that should be focused on joy and celebration’.

The King looked enthused but distinctly tired after a year in which he marked his own coronation as well as a packed schedule of public engagements and travel, let alone the many woes involving his youngest son, Prince Harry.

However he stood on his feet for the entire 20-minutes service and spent an hour afterwards meeting religious leaders, members of the 500-strong congregation present on the day, as well as local organisations working in the community.

He was mobbed by hundreds of well wishers eager to grab a selfie with the monarch and shook the hands of everyone he met.

In an off-the-cuff speech, the king said he had the ‘greatest admiration’ for the Coptic community and that he was heartened to see so many other churches represented at the event given how many challenges and ‘persecution‘ they faced in other parts of the world.

His Majesty was left ‘very touched’ after being offered his first public Christmas card at the event 

Taormina (pictured) had prepared two cards for Charles. One read: ‘Happy holidays!!! King Charles! BOOM!!! Merry Christmas!! To King Charles.’ The other had a giant love heart and also read: ‘Happy holidays XXX’

The little girl, aged six, had been waiting with her father to greet the British monarch after the service 

Describing it as a ‘very special occasion’, the king added: ‘I want to wish you nothing but a very Happy Christmas indeed, if I may say so.’

Before he left he unveiled a plaque to mark his visit and signed a visitor’s book. 

His Majesty has attended yearly Advent Services since 2013.

Before meeting with the crowds, His Majesty appeared in high spirits as he observed the festivities. 

After the service, Charles met with young volunteers from the church’s ministries to plant a plum tree- much in line with his green-focused goals and attitudes. 

Charles appeared focused as he joined in on the Advent Service and Christmas Reception today 

His Majesty also met members of the Coptic Orthodox Church Congregation to unveil a new plaque in his honour of the royal visit.

The royal donned a tie emblazoned with crosses- seemingly matching today’s itinerary.

It was also suspected that Charles aimed to convey meaning with his tie last week in Dubai, with a tie fluttered in Greek flags amid a diplomatic spat between the Mediterranean country and Britain.

Suggestions were made that the King appeared to plea for international cooperation with his choice of tie, stitched with a pattern of Greek flags fluttering in the wind.

Charles’ cheerful appearance comes amid a tumultuous time for the Royal Family after the Dutch translation of Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame named two royals alleged to have expressed ‘concerns’ about the colour of Prince Archie’s skin.

It came as media organisations around the world, including ITV, The Guardian, and the Times, named the two royals accused of asking about Archie’s skin colour as King Charles and his daughter-in-law Kate.

After the service, Charles signed a book as members of the Coptic Orthodox Church Congregation watched by 

His Majesty also unveiled a new plaque from behind a red cloth to honour his visit to the church today

This week, Buckingham Palace officials will meet with aides to Prince William for critical talks in how to deal with the fallout.

The gathering of the two households will see them discuss how to respond, with ‘time and care’ to be taken before any decisions are made, one source told the Sunday Telegraph.

All options are believed to be ‘on the table’, including legal action, while Charles, who flew back to the UK after several days at the COP28 environment summit in Dubai last week, is said to be taking the furore surrounding the book ‘very seriously’.

It is reported that during the week Charles will discuss the situation with senior advisers, while also carrying out his duties with aides telling the Mirror it will be ‘business as usual’ with royals to be seen as ‘rising above’ the row.

He is expected to remain in Sandringham today before returning to London for a series of official engagements this week, including a ceremony at Buckingham Palace and a charity carol concert at Westminster Abbey.

After the service, Charles met with young volunteers from the church’s ministries to plant a tree- much in line with his green-focused goals and attitudes

Charles and Archbishop Angaelos (pictured), 56, appeared to enjoy conversation after the service  

A source close to the Palace told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘Discussions [have been] had and we’ll continue those discussions this week, but not in a crisis talks manner…

‘Decisions [will be] made with care and time and professionalism rather than rushed over a weekend.’

MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.

Meanwhile, the Mail understands that Buckingham Palace is investigating who at their end could have seen the letters between the King and Meghan Markle in which the names were allegedly mentioned.

However, it is confident the leak has not come from within, believing only a ‘tiny handful’ of people have ever seen them.

Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, have not commented publicly on the scandal. Scobie has been accused of acting as a ‘mouthpiece’ for the Sussexes, an allegation he has denied, writing on X, formerly Twitter: ‘I’m not ‘Meg’s pal’.

Sources close to the Duchess of Sussex , who allegedly wrote down the names of the two family members in letters to King Charles, have insisted to that she ‘never intended for them to be publicly identified’.

Upon his arrival at the Church in Hertfordshire, Charles greeted a guard with a wide grin across his face 

Archbishop Angaelos and King Charles toured the Church and observed its features from the aisle 

They insist that the contents of the letters were ‘not leaked to Mr Scobie by anyone in her camp’, the Telegraph reports.

But one source close to the Royal Family has now called on Harry and Meghan to speak out publicly on the issue.

The source told the paper: ‘For the couple that talked about ‘death by a thousand no comments’, the silence at this point is deafening.’

Another insider added that the decision not to respond was ‘interesting’ given the Sussexes’ previous complaints about not being supported against negative press stories.

The scandal – which Scobie has been forced to insist was not a publicity stunt – has kept Endgame in the headlines for more than a week as excerpts were published in the days before its release in a French magazine.

Charles gave a speech after the service and said said he had the ‘greatest admiration’ for the Coptic community and that he was heartened to see so many other churches represented at the event given how many challenges and ‘persecution‘ they faced in other parts of the world

Archbishop Angaelos greeted Charles upon his arrival at the Coptic Orthodox Church Centre in Hertfordshire

The most eye-grabbing extract serialised in Paris Match claimed that there was a second so-called ‘royal racist’ – after Harry and Meghan alluded to a member of the Royal Household expressing discomfort over Archie’s skin colour in 2021.

They told Oprah Winfrey in their interview a year after they quit royal duties that there had been conversations about ‘how dark’ Archie’s skin would be when he was born.

Meghan did not name the member of the household, saying at the time: ‘I think that would be very damaging to them.’

The names did not appear in the English edition of the book when it was released on Tuesday. Scobie had written a paragraph in which he said he could not name them under UK law.

But the names appeared in the Dutch version of the book, prompting the publishers to pulp copies that were on sale.

Charles appeared in high spirits as he waved to excited members of the Church after planting a plum tree 

The Dutch translators who worked on the volume maintain that the manuscript they were given featured both names verbatim.

Saskia Peeters, speaking to MailOnline, said this week: ‘The names of the royals were there in black and white. I did not add them. I just did what I was paid to do and that was translate the book from English into Dutch.’

The second translator, Nellie Keukelaar-van Rijsbergern, then told The Sun: ‘We are professionals and we’ve done this for years, both of us. It’s unfair.’

Newspapers in the UK avoided reporting the names after the allegations came to light after Endgame’s release on Tuesday, but Piers Morgan revealed them on his Uncensored show on Wednesday.

Morgan added, however, that he did not believe the allegations of ‘racist comments’.

He said: ‘Because I don’t believe any racist comments were ever made by any of the Royal Family, and until there is actual evidence of those comments being made, I will never believe it.’

He then doubled down on his defence later in the week, saying on Thursday: ‘I took a view it was ridiculous that British people couldn’t be aware of this information. I also said when I named them that I didn’t believe a word of the racist allegations made against them.’

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