Britain's King Charles, pictured here in Dublin in 2019.RollingNews.ie

Britain’s King Charles was on the receiving end of a seagull’s droppings during a visit to Co Down this week.

While taking a trip to a seaside resort in Newcastle, Charles was splattered as he celebrated the work of local charities.

The 77-year-old saw the funny side of things, joking about his encounter with the bird after his suit jacket was stained.

The bird’s dropping hit Charles and some others around him just as he was about to start a meet and greet with the public along the main street.

One onlooker who was waiting to meet the king witnessed the incident unfold from across the street and ended up sharing a joke with him.

She told RTE: "We were talking to the king about the seagull and he said 'it’s well it didn’t land on my head.'

"Somebody was trying to get him to put a coat on but he didn’t, being hit by a seagull, it’s supposed to be good luck."

Earlier, Charles visited the Pantry Foodbank, based in a Newcastle church, where he helped volunteers fill two boxes with bread, vegetables, tinned goods and toiletries.

John O’Neill, the Pantry’s chairman, told Charles where the items were going, and the British king made volunteers laugh after touching a toilet roll and saying "very important."

Meanwhile, Camilla went on a solo trip to Royal Hillsborough in Co Down and poured a pint of Guinness. As she was doing so, Camilla joked that she was "not quite the expert, but my husband is."

She was invited to the Parson’s Nose pub and restaurant, where she met staff and received a round of applause for her pint-pouring efforts.

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Charles was invited to Ireland earlier this week by Catherine Connolly during her three-day trip to London and Leeds.

Charles travelling south of the border would mark just the second state visit by a British monarch to the country since independence, after Queen Elizabeth did so in 2011.

In a statement, Connolly said that she "appreciated very much the warm welcome which he extended."

She added: "In our discussion, we were mindful of the unique relationship as close neighbours and our intertwined history, recalling the significant state visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland in 2011, as well as the state visit here of former President Higgins in 2014.

"I was very pleased therefore to extend an invitation to King Charles to pay his own state visit to Ireland. I am sure that he will receive the warmest of welcomes and this will represent a further deepening of our relationship as neighbours and as friends."

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.