A former shopkeeper from Buckinghamshire met King Charles at the 50-year anniversary reception of British Asians arriving from Uganda.
King Charles hosted the special reception at Buckingham Palace to mark 50 years since around 60,000 Asians were forced out of Uganda by the country’s former dictator Idi Amin, and leading many to settle in the UK.
Among those who arrived in 1972 was Vinny Patel, then 16-years-old, who eventually made Little Chalfont his home.
Vinny, now the Chairman of Little Chalfont Parish council, who was invited to meet King Charles, said: “I was 16 years old when I left Uganda.
“All I can remember is that I had just given my GCSC exams.
“After the announcement by Idi Amin there were lots of army people all over the town and it was scary to go out especially after dark.”
Before taking up the duties as Parish Council Chairman, the father-of-two Vinny previously ran a shop in Little Chalfont for 32 years.
When he got the invitation from His Majesty for the November 2 event to celebrate the success and contribution of the Ugandan Asians in the UK, Vinny couldn’t believe it at first.
He said: “At first I thought it was a scam! But then I opened the envelope and had a proper look and saw the logo at the top.
“I was really excited.”
Vinny's visiting daughter checked and confirmed the invitation was really from Buckingham Palace, and he needed to RSVP.
The grandfather-of-two said: “Of course I was going – this is once in a lifetime opportunity.
“There were 500 hundred people from all over Uganda, all with different stories and experiences to tell but from the same background. I made a lot of friends.”
Vinny shared a special and close encounter with the King, which was captured on camera.
He explained: “I was standing in front of my chair. He walked past me, and he saw I was doing Jai Swaminarayan [religious greeting]. I’m a Swaminarayan follower [Swaminarayan Hinduism].
“We have big temple in London, which the King visited when he was a prince, so he knew a little bit about our temple.
“The symbol of our temple is a an orange U-shape with a red dot in the middle, and he must have noticed that.
“He folded his hands for me and said ‘Jai Swaminarayan’, that’s how we greet in our temple. And then he said ‘hello’, and shook my hand.
“That was the icing on the cake!”
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