Following the announcement of the King’s cancer diagnosis and cancellation of upcoming royal engagements, the Echo looks back at some of the times the Prince visited the area.

Prince Charles was about to officially open the Broadlands home of his great uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, to the public and found himself temporarily short of funds.

Lord Louis asked him for the £1 entry fee. When the Prince declared himself cashless, his great-uncle handed him a loan.

For all the paying customers that day, seeing the Prince walkabout on the lawns was worth all the money in the world.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles at Broadlands in 1979.Prince Charles at Broadlands in 1979. (Image: Echo)

He was back in Romsey later in the year for the wedding of Lord Romsey and Penelope Eastwood at Romsey Abbey.

He was met with signs being reading ‘Come on Charlie, you are next’. 

The Prince was in the city on June 11, 1980, to see the Shipbuilding Industry Training Board's new centre in Hazel Road, Woolston.

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Prince Charles flew into the city by helicopter from Buckingham Palace, landing in misty rain at the heliport in West Quay Road.

As he made his way to Woolston, the Prince became the first member of the Royal family to cross the Itchen Bridge since it was opened by Princess Alexandra in 1977.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles in Woolston, 1980.Prince Charles in Woolston, 1980. (Image: Echo)

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer met the public in Romsey on one of her first major walkabouts on May 9, 1981.

His Royal Highness was said to have been almost upstaged as his fiancee shook hundreds of hands, showed off her engagement ring, held babies and accepted gifts.

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The only hitch appeared to be a bomb scare after police took away a small box wrapped in gift paper which had been left in the visitor reception centre.

Prince Charles and his bride-to-be had stayed the night at Broadlands and arrived to open the Mountbatten exhibition in an open 1926 Rolls-Royce driven by Lord Romsey.

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The royal couple were back again not too long after for their honeymoon.

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer wed at St Paul's Cathedral on July 29, 1981, before the newlyweds took the open-topped state landau to Buckingham Palace where they emerged on the balcony to give the crowds the kiss they had been longing to see.

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Afterwards, Charles and Diana retired from the public gaze to enjoy toasts and a wedding breakfast with 120 family members.

A “just married” sign attached to the landau by Princes Andrew and Edward raised smiles as the married couple were driven over Westminster Bridge to get the train to Romsey in Hampshire to begin their honeymoon at Broadlands.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles in Southampton, 1988.Prince Charles in Southampton, 1988. (Image: Echo)

Southampton hosted the first Great Ormond Street Wishing Well Appeal gala outside London in 1988 and Prince Charles was the guest of honour.

Before the future king had even pulled up outside the Mayflower Theatre, more than £100,000 had been raised for the famous London hospital through the sale of programmes and tickets.

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While escorted by Lord and Lady Romsey, the Prince met with event organisers, celebrities and some of the 2,000-strong audience.

Winchester Cathedral was the venue for Timothy Knatchbull and Isobella Norman’s wedding in 1998 His Royal Highness was in attendance, as was Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne and others.

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The Prince of Wales visited the area a few times in 2000 including engagements at Naomi House Children’s Hospice and Countess Mountbatten Hospice.

The prince was greeted at the gates of Winchester College on June 28, by 670 boys for a ceremony dating back to the 16th century.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles at Naomi House Children's Hospice in 1999.Prince Charles at Naomi House Children's Hospice in 1999. (Image: Echo)

All the boys and masters assembled in the 14th-century heart of the college, founded in 1382 by Bishop of Winchester William Wykeham.

After flying in by helicopter the Prince came through the gates where he met dignitaries, including mayor of Winchester Georgie Busher and college headmaster James Sabben-Clare.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles at Winchester College in 2000.Prince Charles at Winchester College in 2000. (Image: Echo)

2007 The Duchess of Cornwall was accompanied by the Prince of Wales when she officially named Cunard's new 19,000-tonne ship Queen Victoria The special ceremony, which took place in Southampton on December 10, 2007, was the culmination of months of planning - but there was still a major hiccup that day.

Instead of sending champagne cascading down the bow of the ship, the bottle clunked against the side without smashing - an unlucky omen in the maritime industry.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles at Winchester College in 2000.Prince Charles at Winchester College in 2000. (Image: Echo)

While aboard, Camilla also signed a picture of herself in the 6,000-book library where she and Charles also signed the visitors' book.

The prince visited Hampshire once again in May 2011 and fulfilled every schoolboy's ambition by sitting at the controls of a steam engine.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles at Exbury Gardens in 2011.Prince Charles at Exbury Gardens in 2011. (Image: Echo)

The 62-year-old prince went for a ride on the train that takes visitors around Exbury Garden in the New Forest.

He rode in the cab of Mariloo, the engine named by Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the award-winning site in 2008.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles at Exbury Gardens in 2011.Prince Charles at Exbury Gardens in 2011. (Image: Echo)

Leopold de Rothschild, whose father Lionel created the gardens more than 90 years ago, drove the locomotive with the prince at his side.

His Royal Highness was in Titchfield to open the new National Maritime Operations Centre on July 1, 2015.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles in Titchfield, 2015.Prince Charles in Titchfield, 2015. (Image: Echo)

In his role as Honorary Commodore of Her Majesty's Coastguard, the heir to the throne, arrived and met dignitaries and staff while the royal standard was raised to signal his arrival.

He met staff and unveiled a plaque after a private briefing with the chief coastguard.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles in Titchfield, 2015.Prince Charles in Titchfield, 2015. (Image: Echo)

The Prince of Wales, along with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, arrived in Romsey for the society wedding of 2016.

The Honourable Alexandra Knatchbull, the daughter of Lord and Lady Brabourne, tied the knot with her fiancé Thomas Hooper in the town on June 26.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles in Winchester, 2022.Prince Charles in Winchester, 2022. (Image: Echo)

Crowds gathered outside Romsey Abbey to watch the Royals arrive - including Princess Anne.

His latest visit came when he was forced to miss the scheduled unveiling of a new statue, Licoricia, in Winchester, following testing positive for Covid 19 in February 2022.

Daily Echo: Prince Charles in Winchester, 2022.Prince Charles in Winchester, 2022. (Image: Echo)

However, with dogged determination, he managed to visit the ancient capital and see the statue for himself three weeks later.

Crowds gathered outside the city’s new cultural hub, The Arc, as he went on to open their new library,