The King has been visiting Oxford today, where he stopped by a company specialising in solar panels – but one aspect of the visit did not run smoothly
15:01, 27 Mar 2026Updated 15:56, 27 Mar 2026
The King during a visit to Oxford Photovoltaics today(Image: Getty Images)
The King was left in fits of giggles after suffering an awkward blunder during a royal visit. Charles has been visiting Oxford today, where he stopped by Oxford Photovoltaics, a company specialising in solar panels that create clean, affordable energy.
Like on most royal engagements to similar firms, he was given a tour around the premises, where he met staff and learned about their special solar panels that are capable of converting more of the sun’s spectrum into energy. And as is customary to commemorate a royal visit, the King was invited by the company to do something he has done countless times before – unveil a plaque.
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Charles unveils the plaque(Image: PA)
The plaque the King unveils falls to the floor (Image: AP)
However, as he pulled back the silk sheet covering the plaque, which stood on a wooden easel, it accidentally went crashing to the floor.
It prompted a man from the Oxford-based firm to rush in to pick it up and place to back where it belonged. Fortunately, Charles and staff from Oxford PV saw the funny side of the blunder and were all pictured laughing after he quipped the unveiling had been a disaster.
Before that, the King toured the headquarters of Oxford PV, which has developed solar panels that are significantly more efficient than conventional products and were described by the King as “so vitally needed”.
The head of state has been championing sustainability and climate action for decades, speaking regularly about the threat to the planet and adopting practical measures like running his Aston Martin car on eco-fuel. He told a group of staff: “I hope you can speed up the transition a bit” – an apparent reference to the aim of moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The fallen plaque is picked up from the floor (Image: PA)
The King after the plaque was put back in the right place(Image: PA)
The King added: “I think you’re remarkable, how you’ve managed to keep it all going, but it does take time to get to the point where you can actually commercialise all these things. But we need it all badly, all your products, fantastic – applicable on one or two roofs.”
He was shown the research and development lab of Oxford PV, founded in 2010 as a spin-out from nearby Oxford University, which has become a world leader in using light-sensitive perovskite to develop solar panels that are over 20 per cent more efficient than conventional panels.
He looked at an electron microscope image of the surface of perovskite, a material layered on to silicon solar panels to increases their efficiency at creating electricity as it absorbs different parts of the light spectrum.
The King was delayed by around 45 minutes when bad weather forced him to switch from a helicopter to a car for his journey to Oxford, believed to be from London, and he joked a number of times about the delay after apologising for being late.
When Charles was shown images of commercial applications of the advanced solar panels, not yet available to the public, he appeared impressed with the potential use in car manufacturing, aeronautics and satellites.
The King looks around the Oxford PV premises(Image: Getty Images)
David Ward, chief executive of Oxford PV, said after the visit that the firm was shipping “pilot volumes” of products to early customers, adding: “There’s been a decade of work, getting it from a brilliant piece of science into a real module that you see here, that we could give to a customer and they put on a roof.
“I don’t think one energy source will dominate all others, but solar right now is the cheapest form of energy generation and deals with security and energy transition.”
It is the second time this week that the King has got the giggles while on engagements. On Tuesday, he and Queen Camilla visited Cornwall, where they burst out laughing while struggling to cut a cake during a visit to mark the 25th anniversary of the Eden Project.
Charles and Camilla were armed with a sword as they tried to slice a street party-themed Victoria sponge after touring parts of the Cornish ecological centre that opened on March 17, 2001.
There was also laughter when they first arrived at the landmark Millennium initiative that transformed a clay pit with massive geodesic biomes featuring plant life from around the world to highlight humanity’s reliance on nature.
The King’s state limousine made a wrong turn on the sprawling site and disappeared before doubling back, and Charles quipped as he stepped from the vehicle: “Now you see us, now you don’t.”
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