Royal news live: Inside Prince William and Kate Middleton’s special Christmas with George, Charlotte and Louis

King Charles arrived at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Lympstone, near Exeter, Devon, on Friday to meet successful recruits and present special honours.

He attended the training centre 50 years ago, completing three days commando training there as part of his pilot training in 1974.

He was presented with a picture of himself tackling the high ropes at the training centre, while he watched recruits perform the same manoeuvre.

The King, who is Captain General of the Royal Marines, met his troops and presented the King’s Badge and a Green Beret to two trainees, Osian Stephens from Colwyn, North Wales and Joseph Ryan from Merseyside.

Addressing the recruits, he said: “As your Captain General, I can only express my pride in each and every one of you, together with my admiration for passing such a demanding course.

“We are fortunate indeed to be able to rely on you, as well as on those families here today who so loyally support you.”

Even Denzel Washington looked a little star-stuck as he tried to work out the Royal handshake etiquette with King Charles at the Gladiator II premiere last night.

As His Majesty reached the Oscar winner after greeting director Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal, Washington could be heard asking: “I didn’t know if I was supposed to grab you or not. But it’s my pleasure.”

King Charles, also a fan of the Training Day star, asked him about his role as the dastardly Emporer Macrinus.

Washington sarcastically grinned and told the King: “I’m just an awful… I’m a lovely man, you’ll see... I’m a lovely chap.”

The King replied, “You’ve been in so many films, it’s fantastic”.

Prince William’s security team caused quite a stir at Ulster University yesterday.

The Prince Of Wales was visiting students entering the arts at Belfast City Campus Centre.

He even popped his head in to help explain to one lecturer why her student would be late on a viral TikTok.

Samantha Johnson asked the future king to appear in her post, saying: “Just tell her why we’re late! Just say sorry.”

William, taking the request in his stride, said: “To Lesley? Are you recording?”

“Lesley, I’m very sorry we’re late but they seem to be caught up and they wouldn’t believe that you were here, so just say hi.”

She claimed on another video that she “missed half her lecture” due to Prince William’s security guards.

The Duke of Sussex “is one of two claimants whose claims are still live” against the publisher of The Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering, his barrister has told the High Court.

A hearing on Friday was told that Harry, 40, and former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson are now the only people continuing their claims against News Group Newspapers (NGN) after several others settled their cases.

The court was told 39 cases have been settled since a previous hearing in July.

The two remaining cases are expected to go to trial in January 2025, with Harry alleging he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for NGN, which also published the now-defunct News Of The World.

The publisher has previously denied unlawful activity took place at The Sun.

Many others have settled their claims in recent years including actor Hugh Grant, actress Sienna Miller, ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne, comic Catherine Tate and Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm.

The heir to the throne was charmed by Northern Ireland’s very own prince of the silver screen during a visit to the region.

The Prince of Wales admired Oscar-winner James Martin’s MBE medal as the pair were introduced, remarking “I recognise that”.

Martin, who became the first actor with Downs Syndrome to win an Academy award when he was recognised for his role in the short film An Irish Goodbye, smiled and said it had been a great opportunity and said it had been a “big step for small actors”.

He commended the Studio Ulster virtual production training suite where they met at the Ulster University, saying there had not been a facility like that for him when he was younger, and spoke with pride of Northern Ireland productions including the popular Derry Girls to a smiling William.

William also took a rare turn behind the camera as he was shown around the state-of-the-art facility, practising moving a video camera along rails while talking to the students.

The Prince of Wales has arrived at the Ulster University campus in Belfast for his second engagement of the day in Northern Ireland.

He will meet students and hear about the work by the university to solidify Northern Ireland’s reputation in the creative fields, including the work of the Ulster Screen Academy training the next generation of film, animation and gaming creators and production workers.

William is expected to meet Oscar-winning actor James Martin.

The King’s Coronation Food Project was launched on his birthday last year in a bid to bridge the gap between food need and food waste in the UK amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The project has saved 940 tonnes of surplus food – the equivalent of more than two million meals – in its first year.

Since its inception, more than £15 million has been raised to design, build and run a future network of up to 10 Coronation Food Hubs across the UK. Three more hubs are due open in the year ahead.

The project aims to bridge the gap between food waste and food need across the UK, by saving more surplus food, supercharging food distribution networks and delivering a flexible funding programme to support the wider sector.

As well as saving 940 tonnes of surplus food in its first year – equivalent to 2.24 million meal portions, a further 1,900 tonnes – or 4.5 million meals – have also been donated by partners of the project.

Meanwhile, £715,000 has been awarded by the King Charles III Charitable Fund (KCCF) to 33 charities working in some of the most deprived parts of the country, with the grants set to enable the rescue of 640 tonnes of food waste, feeding 95,000 people.