Malton saw a bumper weekend following the visit of the King and Camilla – with some traders reporting a 100% increase in sales.

The visit came just before the Easter weekend and monthly food market and put Malton under the national, as well as local spotlight.

Mark Brayshaw, Head of Visit Malton CIC, said: “Following the visits of Their Majesties last week, the response across the board has been hugely positive.

“With the combination of fantastic media coverage of the visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, the Easter holidays and glorious weather during the Bank Holiday weekend we saw a bumper crowd of visitors in town on Saturday.

“Some traders at the monthly market reported sales being up 100% on previous months and some likened the atmosphere to a Food Lovers Festival weekend. All six producers in Talbot Yard reported being very busy at the weekend.”

Despite the secrecy surrounding the visit, a number of businesses were involved in the preparations including the Topiary Tree florists.

Owner Gemma Bicknell created the bouquet which was presented to Camilla.

Gemma said: “The bouquet was a mix of cream and yellow Narcissi, yellow tulips, eucalyptus and Rosemary with some garden foliage and a few white roses to represent Yorkshire tied off in eco ribbon in red white and blue.”

The honour of handing over the flowers was given to two-and-a-half-year-old Thomas, son of pastry chef Florian Poirot.

Elsewhere in the town, bunting was quickly put up and flags dug out to welcome the Royal couple.

Melanie Wright from Fox’s Butchers said: “It was such a great atmosphere – some were cheering, others saying hip hip hooray. It was just brilliant seeing him walking past and meeting people, just brilliant.”

Tom Naylor-Leyland, Director of Visit Malton, said: “It is an absolute privilege for the town to have hosted Their Majesties The King and Queen Consort in Malton’s Talbot Yard.

“We as a town are so proud of our locally produced food and drink credentials; over the last decade we have really built an incredibly close-knit community of independent, artisan producers, who have a passion for creating delicious products from an abundance of superb, local ingredients. We do hope that The King and Queen Consort enjoyed their very first visit to Yorkshire’s Food Capital!”