King Charles and Queen Camilla visit Bradford

The King and Queen have spent the day in Bradford to celebrate the people and heritage of the current UK City of Culture.

Crowds waving flags greeted Charles and Camilla when they arrived at the city's new £50m Bradford Live venue.

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracey Brabin welcomed the royal couple to the city, before they stopped to speak to of the public.

The King and Queen were then treated to a performance by school pupils before being taken on a tour of some of the district's cultural highlights.

The Queen, as patron of the National Literacy Trust, then ed an event celebrating the organisation's work in Bradford, where she met volunteers and listened to poetry performed by local school children.

Meanwhile, the King visited Impact Hub Yorkshire in Little , a centre that provides for growing local enterprises and entrepreneurs.

Safeena Khan, who runs Florent flower shop in Bradford, presented a bouquet to the King, inspired by his Highgrove garden.

They also shared a moment together discussing living with cancer, she said.

"It's one of the things nobody wants in common with anybody, while His Majesty is still going through cancer, I have had it twice," Ms Khan said.

"He was really appreciative of the flowers. He said they were lovely, they were beautiful.

"He asked me how I was with the cancer, and I asked him how he was as well.

"We had that little exchange, and it was quite personal and quite warming."

The King has been receiving ongoing cancer care for about 15 months since he was diagnosed with an undisclosed from of the disease early in 2024.

The Queen then visited a cottage in Thornton where the Bronte sisters were born and which was recently bought so it could be turned into a cultural and education centre.

Later, the King visited Cartwright Hall, an art gallery and community cultural space in Lister Park, to tour an exhibition of work by Bradford-born artist David Hockney.

While at the exhibition, he was surprised by 15-year-old Florence McGrellis, who hugged him when he stopped to talk.

Asked afterwards "what was she thinking", Florence, who has Down's Syndrome, said it was "awesome".

"Because I'm friendly and I'm very helpful, and I'm a hugger," she said.

"And all my family are giving hugs. So I give them hugs.

"I felt very proud. It was also very exciting. I'm looking forward to meeting him again."

During the visit, the King also met magician Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo, who turned a newspaper into £20 notes and performed a classic pick-a-card trick.

Frayne said: "I've been fortunate to visit him in the royal estate, but it's nice to bring him back to my hood, to my estate - from council estate to royal estate."

Charles was also treated to a performance by the BBC Radio Leeds Bantam of the Opera choir, before he spent time talking to some of the about their experience with the choir and their memories of the 1985 Bradford City fire, which claimed the lives of 56 football fans.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.