King Charles braved the rain in east London as he visited a creative cultural festival on Thursday, where he met Hollywood actor Ben McKenzie.

The royal, 76, travelled to Old Spitalfields Market, for the city’s first ever SXSW festival where businesses and individuals involved in music, technology, screen and culture come together. 

Charles attempted to keep himself dry in the typical British wet weather by holding up a large brolly as he strolled through the streets of Shoreditch.

As he arrived, the monarch beamed as he met with Karen Gibson of The Kingdom Choir – the same group who sang at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding in 2018. 

The event originated in Texas but has evolved into a broader festival encompassing some of the key figures in the creative arts and technology industries.

The king looked typically stylish and dapper as he stepped out in a navy pinstripe suit paired with a crisp white shirt, a blue tie and highly polished black shoes. 

Charles greeted and shook hands with American actor Ben McKenzie, who handed the king his book, Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud. 

King Charles attempted to keep himself dry in the typical British wet weather by holding up a large brolly as he strolled through the streets of Shoreditch

The OC star – who was sporting a beige suit with a light blue shirt – and Charles beamed as they chatted to each other inside the venue. 

The king appeared to be in high spirits as he made his way around the SXSW festival, which thousands of people have visited over the past week. 

Charles took a look at an immersive art installation, centred around sustainability, a subject the king has been passionate about since his early twenties. 

He first spoke about the dangerous effects of plastic pollution on the environment when he was 21 years old in 1970. 

In 2023, he famously said that the ‘world does not belong to us’ at Cop28 in Dubai, adding that his grandchildren, Prince Louis, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie would be living with the effects of our warming planet. 

The exhibit was made by a London artist named Damien Roach who called the design Grounding and it uses AI to depict landscape images and show the world’s evolution. 

The star-studded event is due to have appearances from Idris Elba, Katherine Ryan, Erykah Badu, Alice Glass, and Sophie Turner over the week. 

Charles greeted and shook hands with American actor Ben McKenzie, who handed the king his book

The OC star – who was sporting a beige suit with a light blue shirt – and Charles beamed as they chatted to each other inside the venue

The king looked typically stylish and dapper as he stepped out in a navy pinstripe suit paired with a crisp white shirt, a blue tie and highly polished black shoes

The monarch beamed as he met with Karen Gibson of The Kingdom Choir – the same group who sang at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ‘s wedding in 2018

King Charles and Karen chatted in the rain outside the market in east London on Thursday

The royal, 76, travelled to Old Spitalfields Market, for the city’s first ever SXSW festival where businesses and individuals involved in music, technology, screen and culture come together

Charles took a look at an immersive art installation, centred around sustainability, a subject the king has been passionate about since his early twenties

King Charles appeared to be fascinated by a stall selling vintage watches and bric-a-brac 

Charles greeted small stall holders as he looked around an antiques stand selling old watches and an ice cream cart.  

This comes as the monarch was seen smiling and waving at royal fans as he made his way to church in Sandringham on Sunday.

Charles was being driven to St Mary Magdalene Church for the Sunday morning service when he made the warm gesture.

Pictured in the backseat of a blue vehicle, Charles, who is often accompanied at church by Queen Camilla, 77, appeared to be attending the service alone.

The King looked typically smart in a suit and tie as he waved and beamed at those gathered nearby.

The royal couple last week visited Ottawa, Canada, where Charles, who was diagnosed with cancer in February of last year, addressed the country’s parliament.

In the speech, delivered from a throne made of wood from a Windsor oak, the King declared the nation ‘strong and free’.

Charles, who was introduced to Parliament as The King of Canada, spoke of his ‘deep pride and pleasure’ at witnessing ‘Canadians coming together in a renewed sense of national pride, unity, and hope’.

Charles’s appearance this morning comes after The Mail on Sunday reported that Prince Harry, 40, sought advice from Princess Diana’s brother about changing his family name to Spencer.

The monarch braved the rain on Thursday and came prepared with a sturdy umbrella 

Inside Old Spitalfields Market, King Charles greeted a stall owner who was selling vintage spoons 

Charles greeted small stall holders as he looked around an antiques stand selling old watches and an ice cream cart

King Charles appeared in high spirits as he met with artist Denzil Forrester at the event in east London 

Well-wishers gathered behind a barrier eager to get a chance to chat with the king, as others filmed him walking around

Sources said the Duke of Sussex actively explored ways to assume his mother’s surname – a move that would have involved ditching Mountbatten-Windsor, used by his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

It is understood he discussed the issue with Earl Spencer – whose family seat is Althorp in Northamptonshire – during a rare visit to Britain, but was told that the legal hurdles were insurmountable.

‘They had a very amicable conversation and Spencer advised him against taking such a step,’ said a friend of Harry.

Nevertheless, the fact that he consulted the Earl over the issue – a proposal that would dismay his brother and father – is a vivid expression of the toxic rift with his family.

Mountbatten-Windsor is the surname available to descendants of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. It combines the Royal Family’s name of Windsor and the Duke of Edinburgh’s adopted surname.

On their birth certificates, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

Royal author Tom Bower has claimed that ‘Meghan decided her real object in life was to be Diana’. If the name change had succeeded, Meghan’s daughter, who is believed to have met the King only once, would have become Lilibet Diana Spencer, a more fulsome tribute to Harry’s late mother.

The move would be particularly hurtful to King Charles, who cherishes the Mountbatten name just as his father did.