The co-director of a Powys company has uncovered a photo capturing the moment her father met King Charles III exactly 50 years ago.

Claire Francis, co-director of MP Paver Hire & Surfacing Ltd in Penrhos by Llanymynech, recently uncovered a photograph capturing the day when her father, George Richards, met the then Prince of Wales during a visit to the Montgomery canal in 1974.

The stop by a stretch of the canal in Arddleen was part of when the Prince formally opened Welshpool Town Lock in May 1974 and was photographed with Mr Richards at Maerdy bridge.

According to Claire, at the moment the photo was taken her father and Charles were discussing fishing and “the ones that got away”.

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She said: “For our father it was an absolute privilege to have met him and spoken with him. He passed away in 2008, but that day 30 years earlier remained something he talked about for many decades afterwards.

“I was very young when the event happened, but I can still remember the excitement in the air from the visit and how proud our dad was afterwards.

“I never forgot the day, but only recently re-discovered that photo of the exact moment they, by coincidence 50 years after it was first taken during the visit.”

Chairman of the Montgomeryshire Angling Association, Mr Richards was also involved with the Montgomeryshire canal and also captained the canal boats for the Heulwen trust charity in Welshpool, likely the reason behind meeting the then Prince of Wales at a stretch of the canal.

By 1974 the canal had undergone a big transformation over the past few years, with Prince Charles announcing a plan to restore seven miles of the canal to amenity waterway standards in October 1973, which was achieved through the Prince of Wales Committee of the House of Lords.

The Prince formally opened Welshpool Town Lock on 23 May 1974 as the scheme got under way, the day he was pictured with Mr Richards.

Claire was four years old when her father met Charles III, while her sister Yvonne Ellis can be seen in the photo standing on the bridge to get a better view and is visible just above the monarch’s head. Their grandmother is also in the frame at the left of the photo with a hat on by the bridge.