King Charles stopped and chatted to a group of cyclists planning to take a ride on the Balmoral estate this summer, with the mountain bikers describing the king as “a very nice man”.
The 74-year-old monarch was hiking alone on his Scottish estate when he passed a group of mountain bikers filming their journey for a YouTube video.
Then the king, wearing a jacket, a flat cap and carrying a walking stick, stopped and chatted with the group before they told him they would be staying on the property.
In typical British fashion, Charles chatted to the group about the weather and revealed some of his childhood memories on the estate – including camping with his late father Prince Philip and sister Princess Anne.
The video was posted to YouTube by mountain biker Andrew McAvoy, who regularly shares his McTrail Rider YouTube channel.
King Charles stopped and chatted to a group of cyclists planning to take a ride on the Balmoral estate this summer, with the mountain bikers describing the king as “a very nice man”.
The 74-year-old monarch was hiking alone on his Scottish estate when he passed a group of mountain bikers filming their journey for a YouTube video
Andrew revealed that he and his friends were staying at the Royal Lochnagar Distillery and driving to Gelder Shiel – known as Ernie’s Bothy or “Royal Bothy” – an accommodation used by hill walkers and open to the public.
“We’ll sleep in the cabin tonight,” he said to Charles.
‘So good. I’m so glad it works. I think because it’s really beautiful. “We recently renovated, but I’m trying to get more trees,” he added.
“Yes, it looks more lavish compared to two years ago.” Do you ever stay there? Andrew replied.
“No, we used to do that,” Charles added, “with my father and my sister.” Nowadays it is occasionally used by a different generation.
When asked if he was still on summer vacation, Charles replied: “Yes.” It’s wonderful up here.
“The mosquitoes are terrible. It’s typical.
He added that he enjoyed walking because it was “good for the soul”, despite the Scottish summer being disappointingly brisk this year.
Charles has continued his mother’s tradition of spending the summer at Balmoral
Then the king, wearing a jacket, a flat cap and carrying a walking stick, stopped and chatted with the group before they told him they would be staying on the property
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Showing his sense of humor, the king then added, “Be careful, don’t fall off.”
Before driving off, Andrew had joked: “I think Charlie’s here because there’s guards down there with big assault rifles and stuff – it looks pretty cool.”
“They probably wouldn’t do that if no one important was here.”
Spotting Charles in the distance, he added: “I think that’s a little royal.”
But after Andrew and his friends met him, they couldn’t help but say, “What a nice man” Charles was.
“A lovely man who took time for us.” Pretty. I’m annoyed because I didn’t want to care, but that was nice.
Charles landed in France today to meet with President Emmanuel Marcon (pictured)
“He’s a nice man. “Walking, and he goes when everyone else is driving,” he added.
“I’m just at a loss. It would be one thing to like to see the king with everyone. He was just wandering along the path alone.
Gelder Shiel Bothy was built after Queen Victoria purchased the house in Scotland in the late 19th century.
It serves as a sleeping hut for mountain hikers and was renovated in 2015 to have running water and a toilet.
While his late mother often traveled to her Scottish home throughout the summer, Charles waited until the last week of August to visit the property.
While the King and Queen Camilla prefer to stay at Birkhall, their private home on the Aberdeenshire estate, he has bucked that preference for tradition in honor of his late mother.
He stayed in the Scottish residence for three weeks – including on the anniversary of the Queen’s death.