Word that Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall were in town was inexplicably and unusually slow to spread resulting in what one onlooker described as "a very poor turnout" to see the Right Royal Couple declare The Braid officially open.

That view was reflected when, with just minutes to spare before the arrival of Charles and Camilla, the decision was taken to move the barriers closer to The Braid, presumably to give the impression that the public gathering numbered more than 100.

The small crowd cheered with delight at the chance of getting nearer to the action and were soon cheering all over again as the Royal pair drew up in a Rolls Royce, flanked by three sizeable security vehicles, and waved enthusiastically to the onlookers.

As HRH The Prince and the Duchess went inside the impressive new building, The Ballymena Times chatted with the people left outside and found that views on the Royal visit were mixed.

Harryville woman, Pauline Ritchie, who was joined at the barriers by her sister, Jacqueline Bell, considered the turnout to be "poor".

"I'm not really a fan, I just came along with my sister but I don't think it was much of a reception for them - there should have been more people here.

"The security was too tight - they definitely should have allowed some schoolchildren to come along and stand outside," she said.

Friends Lorna Topping from Galgorm and Sara Ballantine with 10-week-old son Clarke, from Broughshane, were happy to be there.

"I think it's great that Prince Charles has come all this way to open The Town Hall," said Sara.

Lorna added: "We had heard who was coming and as we were meeting up in town anyway for breakfast, we thought we'd just call down and have a look and we're glad we did!"

Another local lady who wouldn't have missed the occasion was Hazel Cook from Cullybackey.

Talking to The Times, she said it brought back memories of the visits, some three decades ago, of both the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon.

"I've seen Prince Charles before - two years ago at The Somme in France and then I was close enough to him to touch!

"I'm a huge fan and totally agree with his view of organic gardening. I'm a very keen gardener myself and have just bought his latest book on the subject which is really wonderful," she said.

Having the chance to see Prince Charles in the flesh was literally a dream come true for fellow die-hard Royalist, Ciaran Boardman from Triangle Housing's Tower Court on Ballymena's Warden Street.

Support worker, Lavina Lamont, who accompanied Ciaran said: "Ciaran really is the biggest fan - he has all the books on the Royal family and this is the first time he's seen a member of the family. He would just like to get inside and actually meet Prince Charles".

Joan Mackrell from Parkmount in Ballymena stopped at the scene by chance.

"The traffic was all stopped and I thought it was a bomb scare!," she said.

"Then I remembered that I had seen on Teletext, last night, that Prince Charles and Camilla were in Northern Ireland, I put two and two together and came up with the right answer".

Joan, however, who was accompanied by her sister, Mary Mackrell, picked the wrong place to view the Royal couple's arrival.

"We were stood down at the far end and saw nothing - they didn't even wave our way," said Joan.

But keen to catch a glimpse of the VIP visitors, the sisters changed their vantage point and stood on until they emerged from The Braid about an hour later and they, and the bigger crowd which had gathered by that time, were not disappointed as both Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall walked over to meet and greet the crowd taking time, before heading off to Bushmills, to shake hands with their Ballymena fans.