Islanders remember King's past visits to Jersey

King Charles III and Queen Camilla last visited Jersey together in 2012

The King is set to visit the Channel Islands for the first time as the British Monarch in July - but this will not be the first time he has come to Jersey.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will visit Jersey on 15 July, with plans including visits to the States Assembly, the Royal Court and St Helier.

King Charles has visited Jersey five times over the last seven decades, ranging with royal visits to excavation projects.

Most recently in 2012 the pair visited as part of a tour to celebrate the late Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.

The royal couple visited a secondary school in Jersey during their visit in 2012

The royal couple visited Grainville school and spoke to people who had been working with The Prince's Trust.

Janni Boon, who was a student at the time, said the then prince had shaped his future with the Prince's Trust programme.

He remembered talking to him in 2012 - he "put me at ease straight away".

Mr Boon said: "I was nervous as well, I wasn't sure what to say, but he just asked me how I got on the course.

"I really enjoyed the course - I managed to get a lot of confidence and self esteem and employability skills."

He said he was "really thankful" to the King as he went on to work for the trust.

Mr Boon said: "I don't think I would have been able to achieve university, I don't think I would have been able to work for amazing organisations in Jersey supporting people and families.

"I really owe a lot to meeting Prince Charles and working for the Prince's Trust."

Jill Bartholomew said she broke royal protocol to tell Queen Camilla they shared the same birthday

During the same visit the royal couple also spent time in St Helier's market, with one islander describing Queen Camilla as a "lovely lady" who was asking about how to make Jersey Wonders - a local delicacy.

Islander Jill Bartholomew said she had met the Queen during that visit - where she told Queen Camilla that they shared the same birthday.

She said she broke royal protocol to tell her.

Ms Bartholomew said: "I actually crept up behind the duchess as she was then and wished her a belated happy birthday.

"She turned around and said 'thank you very much' and we spoke and I told her we shared the same birthday - she said 'oh but I'm sure I have a few more years on the clock than you have'."

Ms Bartholomew said she was "over the moon" they were returning, and that she would love to speak to the Queen again.

In 2004, the King showed his appreciation of the Channel Islands and its "unswerving loyalty" to the Crown during a visit to mark 800 years of Jersey's relationship with the Crown.

He said the relationship between the islanders and "in return the Crown's profound regard for Jersey" had been symbolised with a gift of a royal mace in the States Assembly.

The King took part in an excavation project in Jersey in 1968

The King also became a patron for a restoration project in St Brelade in 2022 - a site which he visited as a student in 1968.

The then Prince of Wales took part in excavations at La Cotte with Cambridge University to record and preserve Neanderthal behaviour.

Linda Romeril, from Jersey Archive, said his commitment to excavation had "continued throughout his lifetime".

"I don't think this time he'll be able to get down to Ouaisné into the cave there but I'm sure he's got very fond memories of that time in the island," she said.

The Bailiff of Jersey's office said further details of the day's events in July will be shared at a later date.