King and Angela Rayner bond over ‘ruthless’ child interviewers

The King and Angela Rayner bonded over “ruthless” questions posed by child interviewers as they spent the day with young people from the King’s Trust in Scotland.

During a visit to see schoolchildren learning about nature in the garden of Dumfries House, Ms Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, told the King: “We were just saying how ruthless young people can be when they interview you.”

The King, laughing, replied: “Have you had the treatment [too]?”

He has found himself on the receiving end of children’s questions throughout his time in public life, from a 1983 Australian radio phone-in when a five-year-old asked him if he likes to barbecue, to a 2017 trip to India when he found himself promising to “build a fort” when he was King at the insistence of a nine-year-old girl.

Ms Rayner, meanwhile, has been quizzed about her rise in politics during visits to schools. At Ashton Sixth Form College in July, she introduced herself as “Ange” to tell pupils she had found “a few nasties under the bonnet for us [Labour] to contend with” when they took over from the Conservatives.

She also joked that if “anything were to happen to Keir, touch wood, then I’d be running the country”.

On Friday, the King and Ms Rayner met a group of young woodland “experts” who took part in nature activities with the King’s Foundation.

They also joined a King’s Trust meeting to hear the “incredibly powerful” testimonies of two young men who reshaped their lives after being caught up in violence.

Joined by members of the Police Scotland-led Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, an initiative that aims to target all forms of violent behaviour, they heard about the trust’s programmes to help young people find meaningful work and change their direction in life.

The King said: “I’m so grateful to you, and I look forward to updates on the progress you are making. Thank you.”

Addressing the two speakers, men in their 20s, Ms Rayner said: “What I find inspiring about what you say is the opportunities that were given so that you could find your voice and also help others.

“It’s incredibly powerful and hopefully the work you’re doing now and what you are achieving is giving opportunities to other people as well.”