King and Queen arrive in Belfast amid tight security

The King and Queen have begun a three-day visit to Northern Ireland, with tight security amid heightened dissident republican activities.

Charles and Camilla arrived at the docks area in Belfast to meet organisers of the world's largest Irish music festival.

The Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann celebrates traditional Irish music, language and culture, and performers will give the royal couple a taste of what to expect when the festival comes to Belfast for the first time later this year.

It was not known if Charles planned to say a few words as Gaeilge (in Irish Gaelic), but on the couple's most recent visit to Northern Ireland last year, he greeted First Minister Michelle O'Neill with the phrase "tráthnóna maith, a Chéad Aire", which means "good afternoon first minister".

A high-visibility policing operation is in effect in Northern Ireland, which has experienced an increase in activities from dissident republican groups opposed to the peace process.

The New IRA has launched recent bomb attacks against police stations in Lurgan and Dunmurry. The device outside Lurgan police station in County Armagh failed to explode, unlike the one in Dunmurry, which narrowly avoided injuring police officers.

Two men are before the courts charged in connection with the attacks, and the security threat level in Northern Ireland remains "substantial".

New figures from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) show race hate crimes are at their highest level since records began in 2004.

In the past year, more than 1,500 racist hate crimes and a further 2,367 race incidents were recorded by police. The figures included hundreds of incidents during racially motivated rioting in the town of Ballymena last summer.

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On Monday, Irish President Catherine Connolly visited the King at Buckingham Palace and invited him to Ireland for a state visit.

She said His Majesty had accepted the offer, which would amount to the second such visit by a British monarch to Ireland since independence.

It is also thought Camilla will be conscious of those working to battle VAWG (violence against women and girls) in Northern Ireland.

The Queen is a prominent campaigner on the issue, and she will undoubtedly be aware that Northern Ireland has one of the worst rates of violence against women anywhere in Europe.

The PSNI says 30 women or girls have been violently killed since 2020, in a population of fewer than two million.

The royal couple will visit both nationalist and unionist areas during their latest trip to Northern Ireland.

(c) Sky News 2026: King and Queen arrive in Belfast amid tight security