Dorset blacksmith has King Charles cracking a joke

King Charles jokingly refused to shake hands with blacksmith Ian Thackray, whose hands were dirty while demonstrating his trade during an event for The King's Foundation.

Mr Thackray, 40, who operates a forge in Chettle near Blandford, met the King at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire.

He trained a decade ago with the then-Prince's Foundation and now helps mentor blacksmiths coming into the industry.

King Charles III meets students, tutors and graduates during a Celebration of Craft reception at Highgrove Gardens in Tetbury, hosted by The King's Foundation

Mr Thackray has also featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Eternals, appeared on Channel 4's Great British Dig and Time Crashers and has been involved in the upcoming Gladiator 2 film.

Speaking afterwards, he said: "I said to the King it was nice to see each other again as I had trained through the Prince's Foundation and we have bumped into each other a few times over the last 10 or 11 years.

"The King has only seen me in a suit and tie. He politely declined to shake my hand as it was black from charcoal dust.

"We are friendly enough to have a joke about it."

King Charles III meets Ian Thackray, a blacksmith during a Celebration of Craft reception at Highgrove Gardens in Tetbury, hosted by The King's Foundation

In the brief exchange, Mr Thackray showed Charles some of the things he has been working on recently, including ancient Egyptian necklace beads which have been made from meteorites and replica lanterns produced for RHS Wisley.

King Charles III during a Celebration of Craft reception at Highgrove Gardens in Tetbury, hosted by The King's Foundation Photo: Adrian Dennis/PA Wire

"It was a good chance to thank the King and show people what their support has enabled over the years," Mr Thackray said.

Training as a blacksmith through the then-Prince's Foundation was the 'making of me', he said.

"I travelled to established workshops and got a taste of the reality of it all.

"That was the making of me really. I left college and thought 'how do I get into this?'

"It was wonderful being able to travel around the country seeing where I wanted to end up and which areas of blacksmithing I wanted to go into."

A placement in a village in Northumberland gave Mr Thackeray, who is originally from Suffolk, the realisation that he wanted to be a village blacksmith and he settled upon Dorset after his parents retired to the county.

"Every time I came back to Dorset it felt like putting on my favourite old jumper," he said.

Now an integral part of village life, living in Chettle with his partner and son of 15 months, Mr Thackray said he loves the variety of his trade.

"When I set out to be a blacksmith I thought my life would be spent doing gates, fences and stuff. I never thought my life would be spent meeting the King, attending lunches and doing films and TV.

"It can be absolutely overwhelming. That's when it's really good having local people asking me to fix a gatepost or something."