Heir come the hecklers! Awkward moments royals were confronted by the public – including woman who told Kate in Belfast: ‘Ireland belongs to the Irish’

The royal family is more than used to the usual formalities of smiling, waving and shaking hands at public events.

But occasionally their pleasantries are met with protest, as King Charles discovered during his recent tour of Australia.

The Monarch was harassed in the Australian parliament by Aboriginal senator Lidia Thorpe.

She shouted that Charles had “committed genocide against our people” as he and Queen Camilla attended a reception in Canberra.

This isn’t the first time members of the royal family have been told off during engagements; Princess Kate, Prince William, Meghan Markle and Prince Andrew have all experienced it too.

Read on for MailOnline’s round-up of some of the most awkward moments the royals have faced over the years.

King Charles in Wales

Despite polls consistently showing over the years that the majority of people in Wales are in favor of having a prince, Charles was confronted by protesters during his 2022 visit.

As the Monarch pushed his way through the crowd of people waiting to greet him, he experienced his first bout of negativity since becoming king.

One man leaned forward and shouted, “Charles! While we struggle to heat our homes, we have to pay for your parade.”

To which Charles seemed to respond, “Oh.”

The dissenter added: “The taxpayer is paying £100 million for you, for what?”

But the negativity was quickly drowned out by a wave of vocal support for Charles as the crowd chanted in unison: ‘God save the king, God save the king!’

Princess Kate in Northern Ireland

The Princess of Wales was also confronted by a member of the public, who turned out to be an Irish nationalist, while on an impromptu walk through north Belfast in 2022.

As she shook Kate’s hand, the dissenter said, “Nice to meet you, but it would be better if it was in your own country.”

The woman, who was wearing an emerald green vest, appeared to record footage of the conversation on her phone.

She added: ‘Ireland belongs to the Irish.’

A stunned Kate, who managed to keep her composure during the conversation, laughed and let go of her hand before continuing to smile and greet other members of the crowd.

Kate’s visit to a foundling museum

Last year, Kate was confronted by another protester when she visited the Foundling Museum in London.

When the princess arrived at the museum, a woman stepped into the road holding a sign that read: “Monarchy is child abuse.”

Speaking to a camera, the activist explained her views and said: ‘Everyone is equal, everyone is born equal and everyone remains equal throughout their life.

“No one is more valuable or important than anyone else.”

She added: “Monarchy is a perversion of that system. Monarchy says that some people are more important than others and I think it is insulting to children to tell them that they are permanently and inherently inferior to someone else, whether that is their older brother or sister, or whether it is a family that have never met them and never will. never meet.’

Prince Andrew argued behind the Queen’s coffin

As the late Queen’s coffin was wheeled through Edinburgh with her children walking behind it, Prince Andrew got an earful from a member of the public.

A young man was filmed shouting: ‘Andrew, you’re a sick old man!’

The Duke of York continued to walk behind his mother’s hearse with Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

Moments later, footage shows the heckler being pushed to the ground by mourners as others in the crowd continued to shout “God Save the King.”

He was then dragged away shouting ‘disgusting’ and ‘I did nothing wrong’.

Meghan Markle in Colombia

Meghan attended the Afro Women and Power conference in Cali, Colombia, earlier this year, on the final day of her quasi-royal tour with Prince Harry.

But before she delivered her speech in Spanish, a rowdy interrupted fellow panelist Francia Marquez, Colombia’s first black vice president.

The activist shouted a question about trans rights to Ms Marquez, who calmly replied: “I’m talking about women in general. We also have a program for trans women.’

The excited audience member said nothing more and sat down. She was allowed to remain in her seat for the remainder of the event.

As the incident unfolded, Meghan, 43, looked out into the crowd and laughed to herself before turning back to the vice president to nod in approval.

Charles and Jon Snow share a joke

At a reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate Britain’s contribution to humanitarian efforts last year, veteran news presenter Jon Snow made a joke to the king.

In what wasn’t a joke, but a playful joke, Jon shook Charles’ hand and said, “I’m so glad one of us has become king!”

Charles chuckled and Jon added, “Can you say that?”

To which the King replied: ‘Of course that is possible’.

Prince William visits Grenfell

Prince William and the late Queen visited a site near the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017.

As the prince left, a desperate man called for the return of the children missing in the disaster.

He shouted, “And the children?”

William responded by raising his hand in a calm and sympathetic manner, telling the man not to worry and assuring him that he would be back.