The monarch should be addressed as “Your Majesty,” but he didn’t seem to mind the slip

King Charles visits The CARE Hub, a community care and housing organization designed to provide support to members of Grimsby by offering a safe and nurturing environment on June 11, 2026 in Grimsby, England.Credit : Temilade Adelaja/WPA Pool/Getty

King Charles didn’t mind a slip in royal protocol.

On June 11, the King visited Grimsby to meet organizations supporting the local community, and he didn’t miss a beat when someone broke protocol by calling him something unexpected.

During his stop at the Grimsby Town Football Club to meet members of the community group Our Future, club staff member Francine Orr said she accidentally called the monarch “darling” instead of “Your Majesty” when it was her turn to meet the royal, Hello! magazine reported.

According to the outlet, the King, 77, was tickled with the term of endearment and said, “I like being called darling.”

King Charles meets members of the ‘Our Future’ collective during a visit to Blundell Park, home of Grimsby Town Football Club, on June 11, 2026 in Grimsby, England. Oli Scarff/WPA Pool/Getty

Recapping what happened, ticket office manager Orr said, “We were briefed on what we should say and what we shouldn’t say, how we should bow and how we should curtsy.”

But when the moment unfolded, and she shook the King’s hand, Orr said that she went, “All right, darling — oh no, I’m so sorry, Your Majesty.”

Taking the mistake in stride, she said the monarch replied, ” ‘That’s okay,’ and he laughed, and he stood back, and he went, ‘I like being called darling.’ “

Orr described the King as “so down to earth” and a “lovely man,” saying that it was “so good” for him to visit Grimsby.

King Charles visits Blundell Park, home of Grimsby Town Football Club, in Grimsby, England on June 11, 2026.Oli SCARFF / POOL / AFP/Getty

According to royal protocol, King Charles should be addressed as “Your Majesty” in conversation and “His Majesty” in writing. The same applies to his wife, Queen Camilla, who would also be called “Your Majesty” in person or “Her Majesty” in correspondence.

The royal couple’s styling was upgraded upon the King’s accession to the throne in September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth.

Prior to that point, they were known as Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, with HRH — short for His/Her Royal Highness — styling.

King Charles and Queen Camilla wave to the crowd from the royal box during Derby Day of the Betfred Derby Festival at Epsom Downs Racecourse on June 6, 2026.Jonathan Brady/PA Images/Getty

The King and Queen Camilla, 78, also got special new regnal signatures when he acceded and the privilege to sign their names as “Charles R” or “Camilla R.”

The “R” stands for “rex” or “regina” in Latin, meaning “King” or “Queen,” and those signatures are often spotted on their official statements and documents.

SOURCE: https://people.com/king-charles-reply-when-fan-calls-him-darling-11996526