Royal visit to Armagh: It's not every day you have the King and Queen at your front door

But that’s exactly what happened when King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the city today and emerged from St Patrick’s Church of Ireland to greet invited guests outside her home.

She said: “We’d been asked if some of the media could use this area outside our house during for a VIP visit. We weren’t told who it was but after hearing on the news that the King and Queen were in the country the day before we knew it was going to be them.”

Jasmine looked on with her four-year-old daughter Amelia as the royal couple came out of the gates of St Patrick’s Cathedral.

"I’m a bad mummy,” she joked. “I took Amelia out of her nursery so she could see them outside our house.

"It’s not everyday the King and Queen are at your front door. When we tell people in years to come they won’t believe us.”

The square in Market Street was alive with colour and sound for the visit of the King, and one of the those groups tasked with entertaining Charles and his wife were Irish dancers ‘Trim the Velvet’ from the Kathy O’Connor School of Dance.

Myfanwy Carville, 25, from Armagh, said: “We heard a couple of months ago that we were going to be part of this VIP event but we didn’t who the VIP was.

"Yesterday we were scanning the news and saw that Charles was in Hillsborough so we knew it was going to be him and Camilla."

She added: “It’s been very exciting to be able to show Ireland off like this on the world stage.

Anna McKibbin, 21, from Belfast, said: “It was great, very exciting. I got to meet [Charles] and shake his hand when they were up on stage. Camilla said she really loved Irish dancing.”

"And I complimented Charles on his sunglasses,” added Myfanwy.

Charles, who donned said sunglasses during his sun-soaked walkabout, spoke briefly on stage, apologising to the parents of any children who missed school due to his visit and go on to fail their exams.

Throughout the visit the King and Queen spent time chatting with locals from all over the borough who had been invited to the event.

One of those groups who met Camilla was a knitting club set up during lockdown to raise money for charity by selling knitted headbands.

Armagh woman Lily McMullan, who formed the group with Gail Steed, said: “[Camilla] was telling us that she can’t knit. I was telling her that I was the natterer, not the knitter, and that Gail got me up to speed.

"I gave her a bunny rabbit I’d made.”

Gail commented: “I explained to her about how the group came about – from our humble beginnings we’ve now raised over £80,000 for two very worthy charities – Pretty n Pink breast cancer and the Southern Area Hospice.

"It’s not just about the money we raise, it’s about the mental wellbeing of the ladies who are involved.

"Even if you’re not a knitter you can donate wool at local wool banks in some of the local shops and schools in Armagh”.

Gail added: "We were were honoured to have met her today, it was a real privilege.

“I also gave her a headband, where it all started, that’s a symbol of the group.

“You never know we might see her sporting that when she’s out doing her garden.”

Charles and Camilla came out of the Cathedral just before 11.30am, but after mingling with invited guests it wasn’t until well around 12.30pm that they reached the foot of Market Street were members of the public had been waiting to see them.

One of them – Jenni Beattie, who was there with her son Sam – said: “[Charles] thanked us all for standing out and said sorry we’d all had a long morning waiting for him.

"We’d been here from about half nine. It was definitely worth the wait. He shook everybody’s hand, he was so polite.”

Charles and Camilla also shook hands with Rebekah Busby and gave a pet to her golden-doodle Teddy, who had chewed through his lead while waiting for the royals.

"[Camilla] said, 'he's absolutely lovely', I think the King said, 'Oh my goodness, look at this dog’,” said Rebekah.