THE King was met with protests during a visit to Middlesborough on Thursday.
The protest was organised by Republic, an anti-monarchy campaign group, in a bid to reflect growing animosity against the royal family felt across the country.
A spokesperson for Republic, Graham Smith, said: "Wherever the royals go they end up costing taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds. Charles's visit today is just more royal PR, a brief visit that royalists will insist shows they work hard."
"The university, schools, local council and local police will all face huge bills for this visit. This is at a time when local services are facing cuts and local people will see their taxes go up."
According to figures from the local council, Middlesborough is the fifth most deprived local authority in England. The Community Foundation, a charity fund that supports other non-profits, stated in a report that the area is in the bottom 10% of income deprivation nationwide.
Smith continued: "An estimated one in three children in the north east is living in poverty, while Charles insists local people pay for his pointless PR trip."
Charles’ visit included a tour of an offshore turbine base factory in Teesside's Freeport and a meeting with a local knife crime charity.
The King’s visit is the first to Middlesbrough by a sitting monarch since Queen Elizabeth officially opened a park in 1993.
Teesside University said that it was not an event sponsor, but its "contribution was in-kind rather than financial".
This article previously stated that the university had spent tens of thousands on the event. It did not and we are happy to correct the record.
