King Charles heard how RNLI crew on the South Coast made a “traumatic” rescue to save the lives of migrants crossing the channel. It comes as President Macron and Sir Keir Starmer hold a crunch summit to discuss how to tackle migrant crossings.
During an away day to Deal in Kent, the 76-year-old monarch visited the Walmer lifeboat station where he met Andrew Holland, Victoria Ward, Dan Sinclair and James Foster. The four were awarded with the Thanks of the Institution award by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Mr Sinclair recalled a “traumatic call-out” in freezing temperatures where they attended a sinking boat packed with migrants.
“Myself and three crew members saved five lives from a sinking boat in the channel ten miles off shore on a cold winter’s morning in 2022,” he said.
“It was quite a traumatic call-out. The boat started taking on water and started sinking in front of our eyes. There were 40 on board. Luckily we pulled five of them out of the water, the other 35 were pulled out by UK border force.”
When the King asked about the vessel they were travelling in, Sinclair said: “It was in a small dinghy.”
Charles appeared to suggest that they were not particularly hardy to which Sinclair replied: “They’re not very seaworthy, no.”
The rescue was previously featured on the BBC series Saving Lives at Sea.
Walking past cheering crowds, the King joined a litter pick on the beach.
Charles asked well-wishers who had been waiting for hours in the 30C heat: “You haven’t all died of sunstroke have you?”
Earlier, the King toured Walmer Castle, which was built as a device port by Henry VIII between 1539-40 to protect English from possible invasion by Catholic Europe.
Today, the castle is undergoing a multi-million-pound restoration project to restore the roof.
When asked how conservation work was going, Neil McCollum, regional lead for English Heritage, told the King it was “endless, there’s always something that needs doing”.
Charles spent time talking to mayors of the different port towns.
