Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Louise Walsh

Meath sisters tell of friendship with King Charles - and how he helped kickstart their business as teens

King Charles once made a phone call to the Aga Khan to try and help promote an award-winning equine health business by then teenage entrepreneurs from Meath.

Sisters Annie and Kate Madden of FenuHealth will be watching the Coronation this weekend as the then Prince becomes the new King of England.

The sibling entrepreneurs were just teenagers when they met with Prince Charles and Camilla and believe the new King will 'genuinely' care for all in his role.

READ MORE: 'Gutsy' Prince Harry will find Coronation 'doubles down' pain of being 'spare', says expert

Since then, they export their natural supplements for horses business internationally and can count five Royal families among their clients.

"We met him a few times publicly. I think the first time was in Aras an Uachtarain when we were invited by President Michael D Higgins. I think I was 16 and Kate was 17 at the time," said Annie

"We only talked to him for a few minutes about the product. Camilla is much more into horses so she was really curious about what we were doing but he cared enough to show an interest and hear what we were doing.

"The second time we met him was at the British Ambassador's residence some months later. Prince Charles spotted us from across the room and came over.

"He said," Girls, how are you? " I made a phone call to the Aga Khan for you and told him about your product!" We couldn't believe he even remembered us, never mind doing that for us.

"We have kept in touch ever since, more so with Camilla. We're not on their speed dial or anything but there have been letters and emails . We are certainly not on top of their priority list but it's nice to have a connection.

"Charles and Camilla are really genuine and warm people and they couldn't have been nicer to us.

"Regardless of what people think of the Monarchy, the Coronation is a big occasion and I think Charles will do whatever he can do for the British people

"It's not the nicest job in the world and I think they deserve more credit for what they do, as they are under scrutiny from the public the whole time. We will certainly be supporting them."

Kate and Annie have come a long way since they founded FenuHealth in 2014 to develop their award-winning horse food supplement for stomach issues.

They were winners of the 2017 New Frontiers Award at the Irish Times Innovation Awards and both were awarded Quercus Scholarships for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in UCC.

Annie is the current Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur of the Year and Kate was previously the leading Female GSEA Winner.

As well as managing the business, Kate (22) now works in the Accountancy and Consultancy field while 21 year old Annie is studying Law and Business and is the current President of the Irish, British and American Junior Chamber of Commerce.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.