IT was a remarkable moment during what has been a remarkable week for the city.
As Prince Charles visited Glasgow in the aftermath of the Clutha pub helicopter disaster in which nine people died, little Megan Faulds grabbed him in a hug - and the heir to the throne hugged her back.
Afterwards the eight-year-old said: "I was so nervous I didn't know what to do, so I just hugged him. I went to let go and he hugged me harder - I got two hugs.
"He asked how I was and I said 'I'm fine'. I was so nervous. I wanted to ask about Prince George but I was so nervous I forgot."
Megan, a pupil at Quarrybrae Primary School in Glasgow, met the Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, with her grandmother, Ann Faulds.
She who was in the Clutha when the police helicopter crashed into its roof on a busy Friday night eight days ago.
Civilian pilot David Traill, 51, and police constables Kirsty Nelis, 36, and Tony Collins, 43, were killed when the aircraft crashed while returning from a police operation.
Six people died inside the pub. They were Robert Jenkins, 61, Mark O'Prey, 44, Colin Gibson, 33, John McGarrigle, 57, Gary Arthur, 48, and Samuel McGhee, 56.
The first of the victims' funerals is due to be held today, with a service for Captain Traill at Glasgow University.
The prince met emergency service workers who helped at the Clutha last week. He heard about the complex rescue and recovery operation from Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House.
The prince, known as the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland, also spoke to Alasdair Hay, chief officer of Scottish Fire and Rescue, and Pauline Howie, chief executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Charles spent around 10 minutes inside the Clutha and met owner Alan Crossan, who said: "It's a special thing for people who have been affected and for the emergency services, who did an incredible job."
He also met crash survivors Calum Grierson and John Robson, who had been in the bar with eight friends when the helicopter struck.
The pair were saved by their friend Alan Torrance, 54, who was uninjured and helped to pull them to safety.
The group are neighbours who always go for a drink on the last Friday of the month. Mr Grierson, 59, who is on crutches after the crash, said: "We thought a bomb had gone off. It was terrifying.
"We were thrown back and all landed on each other. My other friends are still in hospital and I will have to go back in six weeks to have my leg scanned.
"Alan ran back in to pull us out and two girls who were first-aiders helped us. We are so grateful to them - I'd love to find them and thank them."
Mr Torrance added: "I don't think I did anything; it was just instinct. I was lucky because I'd moved backwards to let people past when the helicopter fell.
"It has been hard but we've been using humour to try and get through this. You wouldn't be Glaswegian if you didn't find something to laugh at."
At the City Chambers Prince Charles met privately with relatives of those who lost their lives in the crash and signed a book of condolence.
The Prince simply wrote "Charles" and the date.
He went on to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where he met around 40 health workers involved in the immediate response to the crash.
Leaving the hospital after just over half an hour, Charles said to all the gathered staff: "Well done everybody, I'm very proud of you."
Speaking after the visit, Andrew Robertson, chairman of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: "It's a great boost for everybody. It's recognition of the special effort over and above the call of duty.
"He was clearly showing appreciation and a great humanity. He was brilliant, he engaged with every single person here."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article