King Charles addresses 'unbearable' tragedy as he prepares to follow in his mother's footsteps

The King and Queen had a poignant meeting with a survivor of the Aberfan disaster and the great-grandson of the school caretaker who saved his life.

Charles clasped the hand of Gareth Jones, 66, who was overcome with emotion as he spoke to the monarch at the Senedd building in Cardiff, showing him a photograph of himself as a child with Prince Philip, a day after Pantglas junior school was engulfed by slurry 60 years ago.

Heavy rain had caused a colliery tip up the mountain to collapse and fall onto the school, killing 144 people, including 116 children.

Poignant meetings

"How are you keeping?" asked the King, with concern. "We are coming soon, for the commemoration."

Gareth was just six years old when his teacher pushed him through the classroom window and the school caretaker Stephen Andrew pulled him to safety, telling him, "Run boy, run home."

Stephen's great-grandsons Noah Jones, 10, and his brother Charlie, 11, were alongside him to present a posy to the Queen.

Noah met Gareth by chance when he came to give a talk at his school and described being rescued by the school caretaker, not knowing that his descendant was sitting in front of him.

Between them was the framed photograph of the late Duke of Edinburgh speaking to Gareth's family as the little boy looked on, a day after the disaster.  The King peered closely at it before smiling and saying: "I recognise him!"

The royal couple were also introduced to Len Moss, an off-duty nurse who rushed to the scene at Pantglas school and spent two days washing the faces and hands of children pulled from the rubble so they could be identified by their loved ones.

A tribute to the Aberfan community

The King and Queen were in Cardiff to attend the opening of the Welsh Parliament, with Charles taking part in the ceremony for the first time as monarch.

As they arrived in Cardiff Bay, they were met with a small but vocal protest from demonstrators carrying yellow "Not My King" placards and shouting the same, along with "Down with the crown."

But the welcome was otherwise warm. They were greeted by First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth and the Llywydd (presiding officer) Huw Irranca-Davies, and introduced to the Welsh leaders of Plaid Cymru, Labour, Reform, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

After making their way past representatives of the King's Trust, Cardiff's Chinese Community, Learning Disability Wales and Welsh Women's Aid, they walked in procession behind Mace bearer Delyth Lewis - the first woman to hold the role - into the Siambr.

Inside the refurbished circular chamber, the King addressed the newly expanded assembly, made up of 96 members, in English and Welsh.

Paying tribute to the people of Aberfan, he said: "The Welsh people, from all communities and faiths, are rightly famed for the strength of their sense of belonging – and next week, together with The Queen and The Prince of Wales, I will be visiting Aberfan to commemorate the solemn anniversary of a tragedy that brought Wales to the attention, and to the hearts, of the entire world – for the most unbearable of reasons.

"I am enormously touched that people from the Aberfan community are with us today. There could be no finer witnesses to the strength of the Welsh – and the human – spirit."

Charles and Camilla will visit the community with Prince William on October 21, exactly 60 years after the disaster. 

Elsewhere, there was laughter as he cited the title of a famous Welsh protest song Yma o Hyd, now adopted as the anthem of the Welsh football team, saying of the expanded Senedd: "There are many new faces – as well, of course, as the reassuring presence of familiar faces who are, we might say, Yma o Hyd [still here]. 

He ended his speech to applause, saying: "Pob bendith ar eich gwaith er lles y wlad arbennig hon. [Heartfelt thanks for your work for the welfare and success of this special land.]"

Charles "has stepped now" into late mother's shoes

Speaking afterwards Noah, from Troedyrhiw, the next village along from Aberfan, said he was, "Excited, nervous, but happy," to meet the King and Queen.

Their mother Gemma Bray said of the King: "He said how handsome they both were. And he said how proud you must be." She said the Queen told the boys, "You look like twins. And she said that she has twins in her family. And they always fight!"

Gareth, who will be reunited with the King and Queen at next week's commemoration events in Aberfan, said: "Today has been absolutely emotional, but it's been an amazing day for me. 

Recalling his meeting with Prince Philip back in 1966, he said: "He actually shot down to Aberfan to visit the day after the disaster. Our house got wrecked, really all water, flood water. So we had to go a few days down with my grandma and grandpa.

Philip was walking down the street when he spotted Gareth and his older siblings sitting on the front wall and came straight over. 

"I'm convinced he stopped because there were children there. There were no other children there because unfortunately they were never to return home," said Gareth.

The late Queen Elizabeth II famously delayed visiting Aberfan in the wake of the tragedy, not wanting to disrupt the rescue operation, a decision which prompted criticism at the time.

"The Queen came about a week later," recalls Gareth. "When she came to Aberfan,  everybody welcomed her with open arms, and she kept a promise that day that [she would] always come back to Aberfan and keep in contact, and she did.

"Charles has stepped now into her shoes. William is going to be our next King. He then will step into his shoes and will probably contact people in Aberfan and keep it going."