David Beckham and the King compared “beekeeping tips” when they met ahead of the ex-England football captain being named a King’s Foundation ambassador.

The former sporting star was confirmed as an official supporter of Charles’s charitable organisation a few weeks after he reportedly met the monarch privately to learn more about its work.

In photographs released to mark the announcement, Beckham is pictured with the King on the doorstep of Highgrove, Charles’s Gloucestershire retreat, and shown trying out his carpentry skills with foundation students taking part in woodworking courses at the Snowdon School of Furniture.

Beckham said: “Having developed a love for the countryside I’m also on a personal mission to learn more about rural skills which is so central to the foundation’s work.

“It was inspiring to hear from the King about the work of His Majesty’s foundation during my recent visit to Highgrove Gardens – and compare beekeeping tips!”

Since reportedly buying a converted barn in the Cotswolds, Beckham has posted on social media about his bee keeping.

He uploaded an Instagram video on World Bee Day last year showing him working on a beehive and in another post he is pictured next to a hive with the words “Be kind & they will be calm”.

Prince Andrew “ain’t going anywhere” in his battle with the King over his royal residence, a source has claimed, as the royal row between the siblings deepens.

According to the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List, Hugh Grosvenor, 33, has a net worth of £10.127 billion – a substantial increase from the £9.878 billion he had in 2023.

However, he is soon set to lose his bachelor status when he ties the knot in the society wedding of the year next month.

In the latest episode of the popular Disney+ series, Prince William made an unexpected visit to the Wrexham AFC club to see an old friend.

“Prince William is here in Wrexham today because it is St. David’s Day, which is obviously the Welsh, sort of, national holiday,” explained Humphrey Ker, executive director of Wrexham AFC.

“Only we don’t get the day off St. David’s Day, which is a bit of a swiz!”

St. David’s Day, celebrated on March 1, is a day of widespread Welsh pride. It was also the day that William, aged 41, met with Wrexham AFC co-chairman Rob McElhenney at The Turf pub to join in the festivities.

“As Prince of Wales, Prince William has gotta come and press the flesh, kiss babies and do all that sort of business that princes do,” Ker said. “For us, it’s great that Wrexham Football Club and Wrexham as a whole has become a place the royals put on their itinerary when they’re coming to visit Wales.”

It emerged William and Ker both attended Ludgrove School and Eton College. The Prince remarked “it’s been a while” during their warm handshake.

“I went to school with Prince William. I have known him since I was 7, or something like that,” Humphrey confessed. “We literally shared a bedroom from 7 until 10.”

Prince Andrew has to lick the Royal Lodge “with two coats of paint” every five years under the terms of his lease, and he is already a year behind, according to reports.

The Duke’s 75-year lease agreement with the Crown Estate, which was signed in 2003 and has now been seen by The Times, states that he must “repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and where necessary rebuild” the home.

It adds that he must repaint the external walls “with two coats of paint” every five years from 2008 onwards – work that was due to have been completed last year.

King Charles has been urged to “shake up the Royal Family” by a PR expert after “losing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle”.

Publicist Haddy Folivi spoke exclusively to GB News, arguing that the Royal Family needs to make some drastic changes.

He claimed: “The Royal Family definitely needs a shake-up.

“With King Charles somewhat limited in what he can do work-wise, there is only so much that Prince William and the Queen can do.

“So the royals will have to draw on the reserves and enlist some more working royals so us, the taxpayers, feel like we are getting our money’s worth.”

The royal family has removed a historic statement confirming Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship from their website.

The statement, from Prince Harry’s spokesperson in 2016, confirmed that the pair were together and requested for the “wave of abuse and harassment” Meghan was facing to stop.

It cited “racial undertones of comment pieces” and “outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”

Prince Andrew cuts an increasingly isolated figure, who “spends his days watching television in a darkened room”.

A friend of King Charles has now claimed that life at the Royal Lodge will become “increasingly cold and uncomfortable” for Andrew if he refuses to hand back the keys.

The friend told The Times: “It can be done tidily or untidily. It can be done with grace and dignity or it can be forced upon him. It’s all rather sad.

“But as things stand, life at Royal Lodge is set to become increasingly cold and uncomfortable for the duke.

“The only question now is when he will realise that he has become a prisoner of his own pride — and that handing back the keys will afford him far greater comfort, and the continued support of his family.”

King Charles won’t heal the rift with Harry and Meghan “anytime soon”, says a royal insider – but there is a way forward for the father and son.

Robert Hardman is the author of Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, which was published in January this year and gave an insight into the first year of the King’s reign.

Speaking at Hay Festival, Hardman suggested that Harry’s explosive memoir Spare is still casting a long shadow over family relations. “The problem that exists is, at the moment, there is still a trust issue. People are still very wounded, particularly Prince William, that these intimate private childhood family moments all spilled out in Harry’s book,” Hardman said.

“It’s not what Harry said, it’s the fact that he said it, and he gave away so many secrets. And he was, effectively, at the time of the Queen’s death, you know, he was taking notes.”

Hardman also suggested that Harry hadn’t told the full story – but there might be a cynical reason for that. “If you do read that book, and as I said it’s amazing, but if you get to the bit about his wedding to Meghan, it boils down really to about four or five pages. Now, as an author, that says to me one thing and one thing only: part two might be on its way.”