King Charles reveals what he watched on TV this week ahead of key meeting

King Charles shared his TV habits as he greeted India's cricket team at Clarence House on the sidelines of their tour of England. It appears the monarch had done his homework on every single member of the Indian cricket team, whilst meeting them after their recent test match loss at Lord's cricket ground.

On the sunny afternoon on July 15, King Charles first greeted India's captain, Shubman Gill in the gardens of his residence. King Charles joked, "I hope this hasn't interrupted your training", before adding, "I saw it on the news [cricket highlights], the ball, didn't it spin, and went and hit the stumps?"

The quizzical King referred to the moment the cricket ball rolled back onto Mohammed Siraj's stumps during England vs India's third test in a nail-biting finish.

Speaking of his interaction with King Charles, Shubman said: "It was amazing meeting the King. He was king and generous to meet us and we had some really good conversations."

The reporter from Asian News International added: "How was it knowing the King was watching the highlights on TV last night?"

Shubman added: "He told us the way our last batsman got out was quite unfortunate, the ball rolling on the stumps. He was asking us how we felt after that. We told him it was an unfortunate match for us, but it could have gone either way. Hopefully, we'll have better luck in both the next games."

Charles sympathised with the Indian team when he hosted them at his Clarence House home the day after the third Test produced a nail-biting finish at Lords.

India's men's team were also joined by the women's cricket squad, who have also been playing matches in England recently, and a number of Indian diplomats and senior Indian executives from world cricket.

Vikram Doraiswami, India's High Commissioner to the UK, introduced the men with the words, "cricket is our religion and these are our deities".

The test match, which now leaves England 2-1 ahead in the five-match series, was fractious at times and tense. The fourth test is scheduled to begin on July 23 in Manchester.

Before meeting the King, the Indian team also had a meeting with Idris Elba. The actor said: "I'd say I'm a fan, but I don't follow cricket as well as I should. I was just a little bowler, that's all."