Ryan Reynolds' reaction to meeting King Charles and Queen Camilla in Wales is absolutely priceless

Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased the Wrexham soccer team last year and greeted King Charles and Queen Camilla earlier today, chronicling the club’s storied history

Ryan Reynolds meets royals
(Image credit: Karwai Tang / Contributor)

Earlier today, King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited Wrexham Association Football Club in Wrexham, North Wales to learn more about the soccer club owned by American actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

The visit was a pretty historic one, with Ryan and Rob personally escorting King Charles III and the Queen consort onto the field. As fans of the team and the stars know, the two actors bought the Welsh soccer club back in February of 2021, hoping to spur the fifth-tier team (which they rightfully referred to as "historic yet struggling") to higher levels of success. 

A documentary series about the purchase, Welcome to Wrexham, premiered on Hulu this past August and today's meeting was reportedly filmed as a segment to be used on air as well. 

Ryan Reynolds meets royals

(Image credit: Karwai Tang / Contributor)

While visiting, the royals were hoping to learn more about the redevelopment of the sports club. They met with executives Fleur Robinson and Humphrey Kerr followed by meetings with the First, Women's and Youth Teams based on site. They even posted a picture with them all before greeting stadium staffers, medics, coaches and more. 

To wrap things up, the 74-year-old King stopped by 1864 Suite, where he chatted with Disabled Liaison Officer Kerry Evans, former players and fans of the team.

The importance of the soccer club to the sports world was not lost on King Charles and his 75-year-old wife. In fact, established back in 1864, Wrexham is the oldest football club in Wales and the third-oldest professional team in the entire world. The club has got wins to match that history, coming out on top of the Welsh World Cup a record 23 times. 

Later on, King Charles gave a public speech that acknowledged both the significance of the meeting and the history of the soccer team.

"I had the opportunity to see one of the other wonders of Wrexham, namely the football club, which is busy putting Wrexham on the map as never before," he said. "And, of course, this comes after the Welsh national team has brought unprecedented international recognition to Wales through qualifying for the World Cup."

Both Ryan and Rob were all smiles while being photographed shaking the royals' hands. The actors were also spotted cracking up at something the King said to them during their first meeting!

Ryan took to Instagram to comment on the pretty marvelous event in his quintessential jokester way. 

He posted a photo of him and King Charles and captioned it, "Welcome to Wrexham Season 2: Charles in Charge."

The happening was likely a welcome distraction for the royals as well, who have had to deal with the fallout of the premiere of the Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary that was released on the streaming platform just yesterday.

King Charles and Camilla were reportedly ”"weary" of Prince Harry and Meghan's "bombshell" series and for good reason as the couple has never been shy about commenting on the innerworkings of the royal family, throwing shade at various members for quite some time now.

Anna Rahmanan

Anna Rahmanan is a New York-based writer and editor who covers culture, entertainment, food, fashion and travel news. Anna’s words have appeared on Time Out New York, the Huffington Post, Fortune, Forbes, Us Weekly, Bon Appetit and Brooklyn Magazine, among other outlets.