King Charles greets wellwishers outside palace before coronation

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s King Charles and his son William greeted wellwishers outside Buckingham Palace in central London on Friday, a day before Charles’ formal coronation ceremony.

Charles left the palace gates in his royal car before stopping halfway down the Mall, where fans are camped out ahead of Saturday’s ceremony.

Shaking hands with smiling spectators, he was met with cheers of “hip, hip, hooray!” and “God save the King!” along the grand avenue leading to the palace, which will be a central part of a procession route on Saturday.

There is not much sleeping going on, I hear,” William told one woman in the crowd, referring to the people staying in tents who have created a party atmosphere despite heavy downpours. I pray you guys stay dry.”

The royals chatted and with members of the public and posed for selfies. William was accompanied by his wife Kate.

On Thursday, William and Kate took the tube to a London pub where they met regulars, publicans and business owners in another publicity event before the coronation.

(Reporting by William James and Farouq Suleiman; writing by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Michael Holden)