King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla Continue to Show Their Support For Ukraine
Since Putin began his invasion of Ukraine, members of the royal family have taken many opportunities to show their support for the people of Ukraine. And King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla continued this trend during their recent visit to Bolton as they spoke with members of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain who live in the city.
Yaroslaw Tymchyshyn, from Bolton’s branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain met the royal couple at Bolton’s Town Hall along with Olena Bielieskova. Olena has been living with a family in the town, which is in the north west of England, since last summer after fleeing from Ukraine. “The Queen Consort spent a good five minutes with both myself and Olena talking about various aspects of what’s happened, what is happening and so forth,” Yaroslaw Tymchyshyn told Town & Country after the meeting. “I related Olena’s story of how she got out of Ukraine…She got word from a colleague that the invasion had started. Olena woke her daughter, who is 13, grabbed her suitcase grabbed everything she could. They got to a car that was waiting for them and sped westbound. On the way a 13-year-old says to her mother 'We’re not going to die tonight are we mum?' She tells her daughter, if something happens to me…leave me, run. This is a 13-year-old.”
Yaroslaw described how he thinks that the King and Queen Consort “have been absolutely marvelous in their support, the whole royal family have.”
“It is so important because we still need that recognition of what’s going on. In some cases it’s waned a little bit. And that support from the royal family is vital to keep that in the general public’s eye line…they know that,” he said.
The meeting is one of several ways that members of the royal family continue to show their support for the people of Ukraine through public visits and messages. In November, the Princess of Wales met with displaced Ukrainian families in Reading, southeast England as it was announced that the Royal Foundation will provide advice and support for First Lady Olena Zelenska’s mental health strategy. The royals have also at times signaled their support in other ways, with donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, and through messages of support on social media. In March, Prince Charles described Putin's invasion of the country as “brutal aggression.” Around the same time, Queen Elizabeth was photographed at Windsor Castle in front of a huge display of flowers in the blue and yellow of Ukraine’s national flag.
During their trip to Bolton, Charles and Camilla met a diverse lineup of people including those from Bolton’s Asian and Polish communities. Before departing they were presented with the Town Hall key and unveiled a plaque.
Outside of the Town Hall large crowds of around 2,000 people gathered despite the cold weather. Flags had been handed out ahead of the royal arrival and people were waving and cheering when the royals arrived. It had been thought they might do a walkabout right along Victoria Square but they only spoke with some of those assembled just outside the Town Hall before and after the visit. Margaret Boardman, 68, from Bolton, was among the crowds. The moment had special resonance for her as she had been photographed next to Queen Elizabeth when she visited Bolton in 1988.
“I took half a day off work to get right to the front of the stands,” Margaret recalled about the Queen’s visit. “Waited about two hours and then the Queen came and it was really, really busy. She walked right to where I was standing and it was really lovely just being so close to her. And Prince Philip was just behind her at the time.”
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