King Charles and Queen Camilla were rushed away from an engagement at an event during a visit to Jersey on Monday due to a security scare.
Camilla was eating an ice cream when a member of the royal contingent whispered something to her and the King was approached by his protection officer and told to leave immediately.
Both Charles and Camilla and Charles were then pulled away and taken into the nearby Pomme d’Or hotel.
Matt Taylor, founder of Jersey Sea Salt, told the Daily Mirror he was talking to the King before being approached by his security detail.
He said: “He stopped at the stall and said: ‘Ooh, sea salt.’ And I said: ‘Come and have a chat, sir’. Then his security appeared and grabbed me and said: ‘He has to go, now.’
“He didn’t seem panicked but he was quite stern. They just ushered him out. It’s a shame as he’d stopped to chat to us of his own accord.”
It is understood a member of the visit team raised a concern, and after investigation, it turned out to be a false alarm. A full background check was carried out and the programme resumed shortly afterwards.
The false alarm comes just days after a would-be assassin shot former US president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet and then bundled to the ground by Secret Service agents. Agents returned fire on gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed.
As part of their trip on Monday, Charles and Camilla travelled to Jersey as part of their first visit to the Channel Islands - Crown dependencies off the north-west coast of France - since the King acceded to the throne.
The couple kicked off their tour by attending a special sitting of the States Assembly and the Royal Court. The crowd braved heavy showers and roared as the and King and Queen arrived in a purple Bentley.
Following a prayer spoken in French, five of the senior seigneurs of the island paid homage to the King. This included the gift of locally laid duck eggs as a symbol of sustenance.
The royal couple stopped to greet members of the public as they made their way to an open-air event focused on the island’s agriculture and fishing industries.
The King was all smiles as he laughed with onlookers, shaking hands and patting their dogs. He even apologised to the crowd for the poor weather - which did eventually brighten up.
The King and Queen finished their tour of St Helier with a tea party at the Pomme d’Or Hotel. Guests included veterans, royal patronages and representatives of the emergency services.
The royals will travel to Guernsey on Tuesday, where they will attend a special sitting of the States of Deliberation and ancient ceremony of homage to the monarch, held outdoors on the St Peter Port seafront where islanders can watch the events.
The King is known as the Duke of Normandy on the Channel Islands – dating from when William the Conqueror’s son, Henry I, seized the Duchy of Normandy, including the islands, in 1106.
Additional reporting by PA
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