King Charles delights cyclists with surprise encounter
A group of cyclists have caught the heartwarming moment they bumped into King Charles on camera.
The royal was hiking alone near Balmoral estate when he passed by the group of mountain bikers, and in typical British fashion, started talking to them about the weather, and sharing his most cherished memories on the estate.
The video, posted on mountain biker Andrew McAvoy's YouTube channel McTrail Rider, racked up over 310,000 views in just two days.
"I think Charlie boy is here because there's guards down there with big assault rifles and stuff like that - it looks pretty cool," McAvoy said just before he started his trail.
"They probably wouldn't do that if no one important was here."
Not long after he spotted a walked in the distance and added: "I think that's a minor royal," before the realisation set in that it was in fact the King himself.
The King stopped and started chatting with the group of cyclists, with McAvoy sharing that he and his friends were staying at he Royal Lochnagar Distillery, and were heading for Gelder Shiel - also known as Ernie's Bothy or the Royal Bothy - a public shelter used by hillwalkers.
"We'll be staying in the bothy tonight," McAvoy said.
"So good. I'm so glad it works. I think because it's is really nice. We renovated recently, but I'm trying to get more trees," Charles replied.
"Yeah, it's looking looking lush compared to what it was two years ago. Do you ever stay there?" McAvoy added.
"No we used to with my father and sister. It's occasionally used nowadays by another generation," Charles said.
When asked if he was still on his summer holiday the monarch replied: "Yes. It is wonderful up here. The midges are horrendous. It's typical."
The King added that he liked walking because it was "good for the soul" despite a somewhat colder Scottish summer this year.
They then bid their farewells, with the King showing his sense of humour saying: "Take care, don't fall off!"
After their brief encounter, McAvoy and his friends couldn't help but comment on "what a nice man" Charles was.
"Lovely man had time for us. Nice. I'm annoyed because I didn't want to care, but that was nice."
The cyclist added: "He's a nice man. He's walking when everyone else is driving.
"I'm just perplexed. It'd be one thing to like see the King with everyone - he was just wandering down the trail on his own."
The Balmoral estate is generally open to the public from April to July each year, with access to the castle grounds being allowed on certain dates from September to December from this year.
Images: McTrail Rider YouTube