King Charles calls for unity and understanding after riots in UK

 King Charles has called for mutual respect and understanding after racist riots targeting Muslims and migrants in Britain, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said on Friday, marking the first intervention by the monarch since the unrest began last week.

The king thanked police and emergency services for their response to the disturbances and he welcomed the way that community groups had countered “the aggression and criminality from a few,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“It remains His Majesty’s hope that shared values of mutual respect and understanding will continue to strengthen and unite the nation,” the spokesman said after Charles talked by telephone with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and police chiefs.

Thousands of specialised police officers are due to remain on duty this weekend in case the rioting resumes after three days of calm.

The riots broke out across the country after online posts falsely identified the suspected killer of three young girls in a knife attack on July 29 in Southport, northwest England, as an Islamist migrant.

Charles set up a charity, the Princes Trust, in the 1970s which has helped a million young people to find work or create community projects and it has continued to operate – including in locations hit by the riots – after he was crowned as monarch.