DJ King Charles serves up royal remix during Manchester visit
During his visit to Manchester, King Charles tried DJing, playing music and engaging with young people supported by the charity. The monarch was touring Aviva Studios, home of the city’s arts organization Factory International, where she met beneficiaries of the King’s Trust.
Keen DJ Christian St Louis, 22, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, invited the King to try the mixing desk. Mr. St. Louis, who guided Charles, explained: “First you load the tracks and then you play this… there are so many buttons. Everything is easy once you know what to do.”
As the King struggled to master the controls, one onlooker commented: “It’s not as easy as it looks, is it?” Charles laughed and replied: “I’m trying to figure this out.”
Mr St Louis, who formerly lived in east London, told the King that taking a DJ course through the trust had been “hugely rewarding”.
He said: “I always wanted to DJ. Now I know I can do it.”
He said he was looking for a job to save money and buy his own decks in order to release his own EP music record.
In 2024, the King’s Trust joined forces with the Elba Hope Foundation, a public charity founded by actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina, to launch Creative Futures, a series of free courses designed to inspire young people through the arts, developing their skills and confidence to work in the creative industries.
In his youth, Elba was supported by the King’s Trust (formerly the Prince’s Trust).
Another King’s Trust beneficiary, Mariama Gallow, 19, from Manchester, read her own poem to the King.
Ms Gallow attended a creative music course and continued to learn about health and social care.
Charles said he had already seen a sample of Elba’s poetry, which he showed him in a movie.
He said: “It was great. It was really good.”
Charles also met young people learning skills such as lighting, sound and production in stage production through the Factory Academy at Aviva Studios.
Creative Futures has helped over 100 young people in Manchester and is now supporting young people in other parts of the UK.
Launched by Factory International in 2018, Factory Academy aims to provide accessible career pathways for the creative industries and boost creative skills across the region.
Factory Academy has teamed up with the King’s Trust to deliver Creative Futures programmes.
Charles unveiled a plaque to mark his visit, before being welcomed with an outdoor performance by the Royal Northern College of Music choir.
The King spoke briefly to members of the public gathered outside the city centre, including one-year-old twins Teddy and Kuba, two-year-olds Jackson and Ronnie, Stevie and George, and childminder Jodie Pownall, from New Mills, Derbyshire.
They were rewarded for braving the rain as Charles posed for the photo.
