The awkward moment King Charles III struggled with a ribbon cutting at a Scottish flower show over the weekend has gone viral on TikTok.
Charles has spent the summer in Scotland, staying in the final weeks of August at the royal family's beloved Balmoral Castle. It was built in the 1850s by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria and is where Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022.
On August 31, Charles paid a solo visit to Royal Horticultural Society Aberdeen (RHSA) 200th Anniversary Summer Flower Show at Duthie Park. The monarch became patron of the show after his accession to the throne and spent the day meeting with community members, horticulturalists and exhibitors. His visit also included a viewing of entries for the National Vegetable Society Scottish Branch competition.
To commemorate the event and his visit, Charles was invited to cut a ribbon announcing the commencement of the show. It attracted members of the press and public who gathered around to watch.
Unfortunately for the king, the cutting ceremony didn't run smoothly.
As Charles attempted to cut the ribbon, the garden shears he was given to perform the task failed, resulting in several attempts and a close call with an organizer's hand.
Eventually, after the ribbon was held taut for the purpose, the king managed to cut through, offering a lighthearted chuckle at his efforts.
Uploaded to TikTok by user @royalfamilychannel, footage of the awkward mishap has been viewed over 2.9 million times on the video-sharing platform.
Captioned "King Charles encounters a sharp issue during the Aberdeen Flower Show," the video has received more than 25,000 likes and over 500 comments, many of which have praised the monarch for his composure under pressure.
"Wow, what a stressful situation. He really handled that well," wrote one user.
"Someone is loosing their head," posted another, with a further comment referencing Charles' frustrated outbursts over pens in 2022. "Don't give him a bad pen after this...," it read.
Charles had two famous encounters with pens in 2022, shortly after his accession to the throne.
At his formal accession council, he was caught on camera angrily gesturing for an aide to remove a tray of pens and an ink well from a table he was using to sign important documents. Then, during his first visit to Northern Ireland as monarch, Charles was caught on video complaining after a pen had leaked over his hand.
In the weeks afterward, a royal fan was spotted jokingly handing the king a pen during a royal walkabout, just in case he should need a reliable one.
Charles' flower show visit is the most recent of his public engagements following a cancer scare earlier in the year.
In February, his diagnosis was made public with the announcement that he would reduce his in-person engagements while he underwent treatment.
This is ongoing, and Charles was cleared to resume his in-person visits and meetings in April.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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