King Charles's light hearted speech leaves President Yoon chuckling at banquet

The King celebrated South Korean culture with the world’s biggest girl pop group at Buckingham Palace tonight but admitted lacking Gangnam Style.

On a day when the monarch and his family rolled out the red carpet for South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee, K-pop stars Blackpink - widely reckoned to be the current biggest girl group around the globe - were among the guests at a glittering palace state banquet.

King Charles, 75, paid tribute to them along with other South Korean exports including Netflix hit Squid Game in a speech to 170 guests tonight but conceded he had failed to pick up the country’s trendy lifestyle and dance when he visited in 1992.

“Korea has matched Danny Boyle with Bong Joon-ho, James Bond with Squid Game, and the Beatles’ Let It Be with BTS’s Dynamite,” he said.

He picked out singers Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé of Blackpink and praised them for their roles as environmental champions

“I can only admire how they can prioritise these vital issues, as well as being global superstars,” he told his audience. “Sadly, when I was in Seoul all those years ago, I am not sure I developed much of what might be called the Gangnam Style.”

Charles trod diplomatically when mentioning that one and only official visit to South Korea in November 1992 when he and Princess Diana were so visibly unhappy they were nicknamed The Glums. They separated a month later.

It was all passed over lightly as the modern Royal Family put on a show for their visitors amid plans for the UK and South Korea to launch talks on a new post-Brexit trade deal and announce £21 billion of investments by South Korean businesses in green energy and infrastructure projects across the UK.

At the banquet, Queen Camilla wore a red velvet dress by Fiona Clare and the late Queen’s ruby and diamond Burmese tiara.

The Princess of Wales, meanwhile, turned heads, wearing the late Queen Mother’s Strathmore Rose tiara for the first time, a white Jenny Packham gown, and earrings that belonged to the late Queen.

Earlier, she was the epitome of style exiting her car in a bespoke Catherine Walker cape and coat and Jane Taylor hat as she and Prince William accompanied the President and First Lady to a traditional ceremonial welcome, full of pomp and pageantry, on Horse Guards Parade.

The two countries are marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and in his speech last night the King paid tribute to those who served in the conflict.

“Over 1,000 of them perished and nearly 900 lie interred today at Busan,” he told President Yoon. “We are immensely proud to salute the veterans of that conflict, and to remember those no longer with us. All those who fought for the survival of your fledgling Republic are in admiration of what your country has become.”

President Yoon, 62, is a fan of karaoke. In April he got a standing ovation after belting out a verse of one of his favourite songs, American Pie, at a White House dinner at the request of President Joe Biden during a state visit to the US.

There was no sign of the same happening tonight but earlier in the day William and Kate appeared to take up the theme and put a karaoke session on the agenda for themselves with their South Korean guests.

While looking at pictures of and gifts from the late Queen’s visit to Hahoe Village in Andong Province in 1999, a visiting dignitary said something to William which prompted the response “I’ll put it in the diary,” while Kate chipped in “And karaoke!” It was not clear what the initial comment was.

They toured the exhibition in the Buckingham Palace Picture Gallery after a private lunch in the Blue Drawing Room, where there was a flurry of activity as guests learned of North Korea launching a spy satellite.

South Korea, worried about its northern neighbour and the increasingly aggressive Chinese, hopes the state visit will lead to closer defence ties with Britain.

William and Kate shared a tender moment at the end of the exhibition when the prince placed his hand on his wife's back.

The Prince also pointed out members of his family pictured in a photograph with Sir Winston Churchill on the palace balcony in 1945 to guests.

"That's VE Day. Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother," William said.

The images of Sir Winston were included especially for the President who is a huge fan of the wartime politician.

He is thought to have been thrilled with the official gifts he received from the King and Queen - a copy of Sir Winston's Stemming The Tide book, hand-bound at Windsor Castle, with a bespoke dedication label.

The Queen gave Mrs Kim a pashmina hand embroidered with the Mugungwha - the national flower of South Korea - and the names of the First Lady's dogs, created by embroiderers from the Royal School of Needlework.

Mrs Kim has been a vocal critic of dog meat consumption in her country and has adopted a number of stray dogs.

South Korea is aiming to ban the ancient custom of eating dog meat amid controversy over the practice.

The Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie, wore her Suzannah Coronation dress and the late Queen’s aquamarine tiara to the banquet, where some guests were given new crockery and reingraved glasses bearing the King’s CIIIR cypher for the first time while others made do with the late Queen’s versions.

“Earlier today I laid a wreath at the Korean War Memorial and met with some of the British Korean War veterans. It was a solemn reminder that our dear friendship was forged in blood,” he said.

“Thanks to the noble deeds of the British forces, now the Korean people live in a country that should political freedom, economic prosperity, and a vibrant culture.”