King Charles meets well-wishers on Tomintoul trip

The King has met school pupils and seen first hand the efforts to breathe new life into a village in Moray.

King Charles III visited Tomintoul during his summer break at the Balmoral Estate in nearby Aberdeenshire.

His itinerary included a new £3.3m energy efficient housing project which it is hoped will revitalise the village.

He again wore a kilt made from the King Charles III tartan, which was first seen in public a couple of weeks ago.

The Dufftown Pipe Band performed in anticipation of The King's arrival.

He was welcomed by local school and nursery pupils, some wearing homemade crowns and others waving both Saltires and Union flags.

When Charles met residents of an affordable housing site, he conversed in French with some of them.

Another member of the local community described the King as a neighbour.

Alasdair Sharp, 79, said: "It's very good for the community that the King is visiting.

"To come to our little community is pretty important, we are neighbours."

The King is continuing his mother's tradition of taking a summer holiday at Balmoral Castle on Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire.

King Charles grew up visiting Balmoral every year. He went on to inherit the neighbouring Birkhall estate from his grandmother, the Queen Mother, upon her death in 2002.

The King visited the Discovery Centre in Tomintoul

At the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Discovery Centre, King Charles learned about a coat believed to have belonged to an exciseman in the 1820s during the era of whisky smuggling and violent confrontations between customs officers and the illicit distilleries.

The coat, which has a high collar, deep cuffs and mother of pearl buttons, was found in the rafters of an old house in the village in 2003 and was thought to have been handed down to a servant.