Prince Charles uses namaste greeting at Prince's Trust award
Prince Charles has again adopted the namaste greeting as he met Ant and Dec and other celebrities at the Prince’s Trust awards.
The royal has been avoiding shaking hands amid the coronavirus pandemic, and has instead used a Buddhist greeting when meeting people.
On Monday, he used it at the Commonwealth Day service, while his son Prince Harry took to elbow bumping with Craig David.
And on Wednesday, Charles used the greeting at the awards, where he was meeting ambassadors for his charity which support young people who are unemployed, struggling at school and at risk of exclusion.
It comes as his mother, the Queen, starting shaking hands again at her Buckingham Palace audiences.
Last week she donned gloves during an investiture ceremony, but then had them off the next day for an audience. Earlier this week, she avoided shaking hands when meeting the Sri Lankan High Commissioner but then shook hands with Professor Mark Compton, Lord Prior of the Order of St John.
On arrival, Prince Charles was photographed going in for a handshake, only to quickly pull his hand back and laugh.
Turning to Dame Martina Milburn, Charles said: “It’s just so hard to remember not to.”
Read more: Queen shakes hands again after coronavirus ban
The Prince’s Trust awards were hosted by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly at the London Palladium, and rewarded young people who have “succeeded against the odds”.
The awards included a performance by Craig David, and was a star-studded affair, with Pierce Brosnan attending, as well as Richard E Grant and Chris Ramsey.
Also at the event was Pierce Brosnan and James Norton, sportswoman Dina Asher-Smith and musician Ronnie Wood.
The Prince of Wales also referenced Covid-19 during his speech at the London venue, acknowledging that the plans had been changed because of the spread of the virus.
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He said: “Due to circumstances beyond our control we are not joined by as many of those who make such an immense difference to my trust internationally, as we originally planned.
“However, I just wanted to thank them for all their continued support and dedication to my trust.”
He also joked about Ant and Dec’s string of accolades, saying: “They recently won their 19th National Television Award for best presenter.
“So perhaps it is a little bit refreshing for them to be handing out awards rather than receiving them for a change.”
Richard E Grant wore black gloves and elbow-bumped Bafta-nominated actress Michaela Coel as they took to the stage to present Charleigh Morritt with the rising star award.
Charles founded the Prince’s Trust in 1976, to help people aged between 11 and 30 who are leaving care, facing homelessness or have mental health problems.
Three in four of the people helped by the trust go on to find work.
Winners on the night included Heathfield Community School who raised money by running bingo nights and selling vegetables they had grown to then entertain the 54 residents of Moorhaven Care Home with Christmas presents and dinners.
Read more: Prince Charles urges world to react to climate change with same urgency as coronavirus
Charleigh Morritt was also recognised for overcoming crippling anxiety which saw her unable to leave her home. She is now a full-time law student.
Charleigh struggled to leave the house due to anxiety when her mum heard about our Fairbridge programme. Charleigh managed to take those first steps to come along and she hasn't looked back. Now she's studying Law at university. Read her story here: https://t.co/qgkfiahNBS pic.twitter.com/Azyrhz2kA4
— The Prince's Trust (@PrincesTrust) March 11, 2020
On stage, the hosts joked about the panic buying situation, particularly in relation to toilet paper.
McPartlin quipped that the winners would be “leaving here with a holiday, a new car and lifetime’s supply of toilet roll”.
Donnelly replied: “No, that’s the other show, that’s Saturday Night Takeaway. This is the Prince’s Trust.”
McPartlin said: “Oh, I always get those mixed up. Although we had big cheers on the free toilet roll. That went down well, didn’t it?”
Royal Family members have been making a few jokes about coronavirus at engagements in the last few weeks, but Charles also used it to point out that global responses can be facilitated to serious threats.
On Tuesday, he called for a similar level of response to climate change as has been given to coronavirus.