King Charles greets well-wishers and practises his French on visit to Scottish village

Monarch wore a kilt made from the King Charles III tartan, first seen in public a couple of weeks ago

TOMINTOUL, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: King Charles III during a visit to the Discovery Centre and Auld School Close where he heard more about the £3.3million energy efficient housing project in the area, on September 13, 2023 in Tomintoul, Scotland. (Photo Jane Barlow - Pool / Getty Images)Show less

King Charles III visited the highest village in the Scottish Highlands on Wednesday, meeting schoolchildren and chatting in French with well-wishers.

Currently on his summer break at the nearby Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, the king visited Tomintoul in Cairngorms National Park and was welcomed by primary schoolchildren and community stalwarts.

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

Villagers flocked to greet the king and the Dufftown Pipe Band performed ahead of his arrival.

Tomintoul, founded in the 1750s, has a history of whisky production but faced an economic downturn in the 2000s.

As a result, the community pulled together to gain access to grant funding and to promote tourism in the region.

It now has 750 villagers – nearly twice the population in 2012 – after the community worked to address socioeconomic problems including lack of development, an ageing population and expensive housing.

The Glenlivet Development Trust was formed to address the economic problems and began a £3.3 million ($4.1 million) energy-efficient housing development, the Auld School Close, on the site of a derelict school.

The king visited the site, which now has 12 homes built on it, and met residents, conversing in French with some of them, perhaps practising for his visit to France next week.

He was welcomed by local school and nursery pupils, who greeted him wearing home-made crowns and waving Scottish and British flags.

“You have been busy making things,” the king said to one of the children.

King Charles III visits village of Tomintoul in Scotland - in pictures

TOMINTOUL, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: King Charles III during a visit to the Discovery Centre and Auld School Close where he heard more about the £3.3million energy efficient housing project in the area, on September 13, 2023 in Tomintoul, Scotland. (Photo Jane Barlow - Pool / Getty Images)

King Charles at the Discovery Centre in Tomintoul. Getty Images

The king meets members of the public in the Scottish town. Getty Images

The king meets members of the public in the Scottish town. Reuters

The king meets members of the public in the Scottish town. Getty Images.

The king meets members of the public in Tomintoul, Scotland. PA

The king meets members of the public in the Scottish town. Reuters

King Charles in Tomintoul, Scotland. Reuters

King Charles meets members of the public in Tomintoul, Scotland. Getty Images

The Union flags are broken out as King Charles meets locals in Tomintoul. Getty Images

Ian Barnes, from Tomnavulin, waits with his 14-month-old daughter Molly to see King Charles outside the Discovery Centre in Tomintoul, Scotland. PA

King Charles III meets schoolchildren in Tomintoul. Getty Images

King of the kids ... Charles in Tomintoul. Getty Images

King Charles meets some fellow monarchs in Tomintoul. Getty Images

King Charles with children and parents in the Scottish town. Getty Images

King Charles walks down a street in Tomintoul. Getty Images

King Charles at the Discovery Centre. Getty Images

King Charles takes a look at the 'Tomintoul coat' in the Discovery Centre. Reuters

King Charles with staff at the Discovery Centre in Tomintoul, Scotland. Getty Images

During a walkabout at the village green, an elderly man asked the king to wish his wife a happy birthday.

“We love you, King Charles,” a woman shouted and another woman showed him a blue manicure and asked: “Do you like my nails?”

Alasdair Sharp, 79, a member of the Glenlivet Development Trust board, wore a kilt for the visit of the king, whom he described as a neighbour.

“It’s very good for the community that the king is visiting,” Mr Sharp said.

“He was at Braemar Games recently.

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

“My family have lived here since 1910.

“There was a time after the war when there was two petrol stations, four pubs, six shops, but it’s all been taken over.

“It’s worked very well, we’ve pulled together, the affordable housing was a great success.

“We are now a Dark Sky Area – we are hoping to develop a camping and caravan site.

“It’s amazing how, if you know who to ask for grants, you can get them for worthwhile projects.”

In 2017, the trust bought a former museum and turned it into the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Discovery Centre, and last year a post office was saved from closure.

King Charles was shown 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 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.

The king was told about the history of the Tomintoul Coat, and heard how the Northern Lights had lit up the region on Tuesday night.