King Charles III went viral when he embraced the New Zealand Women’s Rugby Union team after the girls asked for a hug during a reception at Buckingham Palace.
On September 11, the king hosted a special reception in the Bow Room where he met the women’s rugby team, nicknamed the “Black Ferns,” ahead of their upcoming match against their English counterparts, the “Red Roses,” Newsweek reported.
“We all wanted a hug, but only if that’s OK with you?” one person on the team asked Charles in a video posted on the team’s TikTok.
In response, the King looked a bit surprised before he replied, “A hug? Why not!”
In the video, we see the girls swarm the King as they cheer that he was open to the embrace. It is hard to determine after the hug who seemed more pleased — the members of the team or the royal head who had a huge grin on his face afterward.
Each girl then got a hug from the King who weren’t in the group embrace.
King Charles meets New Zealand women’s rugby union team @BlackFerns They asked for a hug, the King replies: “Why not!” #KingCharles #RoyalFamily #blackferns #royalcameraman pic.twitter.com/sQocjlaTF6
— Duncan Stone (@DuncanCStone) September 11, 2024
The team captioned their post, “Kicking our feet King Charles.” At the time of this publication, the TikTok video has been viewed more than 4.8 million times after it quickly went viral in the 24 hours after the team posted it.
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It also has more than 940,000 likes and nearly 7,000 comments, with many praising the royal’s friendly gesture.
“That’s the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on him,” one person wrote.
Another wrote, “He probably doesn’t get hugged or even touched often. Such a simple human gesture to a man that has everything and look at the smile on his face. Priceless.”
“King Charles changing my mind on a daily,” the person added.
The monarch, who is also King of New Zealand, has yet to visit the country since he ascended the throne following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022.
During Wednesday’s reception, the king told the team, “I’m extremely sorry I can’t come to New Zealand in later October—it’s on doctors’ orders.”
“But I hope there will be another excuse [to visit the country] before too long,” he added. “In the meantime, give my love to New Zealand!”
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