Outside Enniskillen Castle last Thursday, quite a crowd had gathered to see the arrival of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, with many joining the barricades from early morning, proving that the worst-kept secret in Fermanagh was well and truly out.

Murmurings started after noon that perhaps the Royals were late, or held up by their visit elsewhere earlier that day, but the crowd waited on, unaware that the scheduled time for the guests’ arrival was 1pm.

The weather was fair, but spits of rain began as the Royal couple arrived at the entrance of Enniskillen Castle, where they were greeted by rousing cheers and applause.

There were plenty of seasoned Royal watchers in the crowd, including a group who had travelled from Florencecourt to many such occasions.

Lindsay Armstrong said: “We were over [in London] for the Coronation, and then I had been over previously for the Queen’s funeral too.

“It’s really nice to see the Scouts out, and the schools. It’s really good for the younger generation to see this.”

Among some of the younger members of the crowd that day were Sarah Armstrong, Lilli Anna Cathcart, Janey Armstrong and Naomi Cathcart.

Sarah and Lilli Anna told this newspaper that they were very excited to see the King, and had came with special Coronation badges fixed to their school uniform.

As she sat proudly on her vantage point within the crowd waiting for the Royal visitors, Sarah said she was most looking forward to seeing Queen Camilla.

Katie Manley said: “This is my first proper visit [of a member of the Royal Family] to Enniskillen, but we did go over [to London] for the Coronation.”

Other seasoned Royal watchers included the Bailey family from Blaney; Valerie, Blane and Victoria.

Both Blane and Victoria had journeyed over to London for the Coronation in May and enjoyed the occasion immensely.

Blane was looking forward to a “fantastic” day and has met the King and Queen previously in Enniskillen and over in Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo.

His sister, Victoria, noted that the Royal visit was “a great opportunity for Enniskillen and it is great to see the event here”.

Valerie said: “I’m delighted to see King Charles and Queen Camilla; I think they do great work, and I am very proud of them.

“It is exciting, watching everyone going into the castle. It’s a lovely atmosphere, [as is] seeing the little schoolkids going in with their flowers.”

She added: “There are also some lovely hairstyles, dresses and shoes!”

One person who did not expect to get close to King Charles and Queen Camilla was Lisa, who was here visiting her parents, Colin and Yvonne Bowles; now living in Australia – Lisa and her daughter, Elsie Violet Wykes, waited patiently for the Royal visitors to the town.

Holding their trusty toy kangaroo, as well as an Australian flag tea towel, Lisa said: “I didn’t even really contemplate that I would even get a chance to ever see him [Charles]!

“I’m hoping he might stop or give us a wave anyway. We watched the Coronation on TV in Australia, so this is really nice to see.”