His Majesty The King is coming to visit Milton Keynes next week

The King and Queen Consort are coming to Milton Keynes this month to celebrate our city status, it has been revealed today (Monday).

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla will visit on Thursday 16 February and well-wishers will be welcome to gather and welcome them.

The purpose of the visit is to “formally mark” MK’s newly conferred city status, the council has confirmed.

It is not yet known where the Royals will visit but it is likely to involve Central Milton Keynes. Further details will be revealed in due course, promise council officials.

Milton Keynes Council leader, Cllr Pete Marland, said: “We are delighted that The King and Queen Consort are able to join us to formally mark Milton Keynes becoming a city, and to meet some of the people who were instrumental in making it happen.“We’ll be sharing some of the reasons we’re so proud of the city and explaining why our diverse and welcoming communities are so united by a love of where we live.”

Milton Keynes Mayor, Cllr Amanda Marlow, said: “It was an honour for Milton Keynes to have the Proclamation of His Majesty King Charles III read, for the first time as a city, having not been in existence for the accession of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the throne.“It is with enormous pride that we will welcome Their Majesties to our city of Milton Keynes. We look forward to introducing them to an array of charities and community groups that help make our city such a wonderful place to live, work and play.”

Milton Keynes was named a city as part of celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in May last year.

The council brought together more than 50 knowledgeable people and organisations to develop the bid, which also had a wealth of public support with hundreds of residents submitting photographs of their favourite local places, and a competition for pupils to design a flag for MK running in schools.

A free digital light parade and concert headlined by Sam Ryder to celebrate the honour was attended by thousands of local people in October.