Q&A: King Charles III's visit to Northern Ireland

King Charles III is making his first visit to Northern Ireland since becoming monarch.

As part of a UK tour, the King arrived in Belfast before travelling to Hillsborough Castle.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, is accompanying him, and Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to join the Royal couple at a church service in Belfast later.

It is the 19th time the Royal couple have visited Northern Ireland.

Charles became King following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday and an historic meeting at St James's Palace formally confirmed his role on Saturday.

Further proclamations took place in Cardiff, Edinburgh and at Hillsborough Castle in County Down on Sunday.

King Charles and the Queen Consort arrived at Belfast City Airport shortly before midday and were driven to Hillsborough Castle for a number of engagements.

They met the new Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, as well as local party leaders, and received a message of condolence from the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Alex Maskey.

The King and Queen Consort met leaders from all the major faiths in Northern Ireland before a service of prayer and reflection at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast.

Yes.

Upon arrival at Hillsborough Castle, the King and Queen Consort did a short walkabout outside the gates to view the many floral tributes and meet the public.

Members of the public lined the Royal couple's route to a service of reflection on the life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast.

The Royal couple travelled through Belfast city centre in a route which included:

At the end of the service, the King and Queen Consort were escorted to the steps at the west door of the cathedral, where the Royal couple met members of the public at the Donegall Street end of Writers' Square.

During the King's visit to Belfast, there was some traffic disruption around Belfast City Hall, including Donegall Square North, Wellington Place and Chichester Street, with road closures in place.

Translink has warned customers to expect some delays and leave extra time for their journeys.

There has been no mandate from the government or officials for shops to close following the Queen's death.

But some retailers may choose to close, as a mark of respect or because of the travel disruption caused by the King's visit.

No.

However there will be a bank holiday across the UK next Monday, 19 September, for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.

King Charles III approved the national bank holiday for his mother's funeral at Saturday's ceremony in London proclaiming him as monarch.

General public shuttle bus services to and from Royal Hillsborough were paused during the King's visit. They resumed again from 16:00 BST until 20:00 BST (subject to change).  

Parking is not permitted in Royal Hillsborough and a one-way traffic system is currently in place in parts of the village.

There was a gun salute when the King' entered Hillsborough Castle.

At total of 21 rounds, at a rate of six rounds per minute, were fired. The Royal Standard is being flown at full mast during the King's visit.

Inside, the King and Queen Consort also viewed an exhibition of pictures showing the Queen in Northern Ireland.

As Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, King Charles and the Queen Consort spent two days in Northern Ireland in May 2021.

Their most recent visits include attending a book club at Kilcooley Women's Centre in Bangor, County Down, thanking health staff during the Covid-19 pandemic and seeing the fire-damaged Primark building in Belfast.

For security reasons, the late Queen's visits to Northern Ireland were less frequent during the violent years of the Troubles.

But she still visited Northern Ireland more than 20 times during her reign.

Arguably, her visit to Belfast in 2012 was the most significant.

It was then that she shook hands with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, a former IRA leader, at an event in Belfast.

In 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was related to the Royal family, was killed by the IRA while holidaying on the Irish coast.