King Charles showed he really got the message when he made the ultimate St. Patrick’s Day choice.

During a reception at Buckingham Palace on St. Patrick’s, The King reached for the only snack anyone in Ireland really craves – a packet of Tayto crisps.

The iconic crisps (and while other flavours are accepted, on Patrick’s Day it has to be the classic cheese and onion) are so popular that anywhere selling them outside Ireland often finds their stocks snapped up by the Irish diaspora.

King Charles was presented with enough of the legend to keep him and Queen Camilla going through St. Patrick’s Day and beyond at a celebration of the  Royal Countryside Fund at Buckingham Palace on St. Patrick’s Day. The RCF helps support farming families and smaller farms through a network of Farm Support Groups which can share knowledge, best practice and advice.

There was a host of local produce from across the UK on show at the event including Welsh Monmouthshire honey, Hardwick sheep fleece from the Lake District and mittens made from Shetland wool as well as homemade cider from Herefordshire and a book ”Exmoor – A Year on the Farm’, written by Victoria Everleigh.

But it was the Northern Ireland team who were on the St. Patrick’s Day vibe and came armed with Tayto.

It meant the Royal Family was fully immersed in proper Patrick’s Day party food – earlier, the Princess of Wales got stuck into a Guinness as she presented shamrocks to the Irish Guards.