His Majesty King Charles III is currently celebrating after receiving good news from his special Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The monarch has had a bumper crop of apples this autumn, with numbers up a whopping 125 per cent on last year’s harvest. After struggling with the crop quantity for the past two years, His Majesty’s team are utterly thrilled with the “best ever” results this year. Discover how you could help him pick the apples, but you’ve got to be quick as the slots are limited…
The UK has experienced an incredibly warm and dry spring and summer period, which has helped the apple harvest this year, and Charles’ 30-acre orchards have massively benefited. The orchards were first planted here in 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation. Chief Juicer, Andrew Jarvis, who worked at the Royal Fruit Farm for 22 years before setting up Sandringham Apple Juice in 2013, spoke about this year’s success: “It’s a bumper crop and one of the best I’ve ever seen. We have so many apples.”
© Bav MediaApple farmer Andrew Jarvis picking the fruit on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk
Like the sound of the King’s fresh apple juice? Well, 100,000 bottles of the Sandringham Apple Juice are produced every year and sold in the farm shops at Windsor and Sandringham. If you’re ever invited to a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace or Holyrood Palace in Scotland, then you’ll also have a chance to taste the sweet stuff.
Want to go apple picking at Charles’ home?
You’ll have to be quick, but there’s a chance to get involved. Visitors can pick their own Cox and Bramley apples from Monday to Saturday, 1-5 pm and Sunday, 10 am-5 pm, until 5 October. In previous years, Prince William has even been spotted there with his children, getting stuck into the wholesome pastime!
You can head to Sandringham to help Charles pick the applesBuckingham Palace’s record visitors
In July, the King received good news from another of his homes, Buckingham Palace, which had a record number of visitors. An official report read: “Income supplementing the Sovereign Grant increased to £21.5 million, driven by a record year for visitors to Buckingham Palace during the Summer Opening and through special tours of the newly reserviced East Wing, which welcomed 10,735 visitors”.
© PA Images via Getty ImagesBuckingham Palace is undergoing renovations
By 2027, the palace’s extensive reservicing works will be completed. The mammoth 10-year project has seen the building’s electrical cabling, plumbing and heating being overhauled to “ensure that The Palace is fit for purpose for the next 50 years”. It has been stated that His Majesty and his wife, Queen Camilla, will take that opportunity to relocate from Clarence House into the palace once the work concludes.
© GettyOver on The HELLO! Royal Club, HELLO!’s royal editor Emily Nash has addressed recent rumours of a rift between King Charles and his heir, Prince William. Emily spoke to royal insiders to get to the truth of the matter, and you can find out what they said by clicking the button below and joining HELLO!’s biggest royal fans in the biggest royal community online.