On the 18th of March, 1986, Prince Charles (now King Charles III) visited Saltcoats and Ardrossan. To ensure that the Royal Visit went well policemen were drafted in from all over Ayrshire to control the crowds waiting to see the 37-year-old prince.
On Tuesday 18th March 1986 Prince Charles arrived by helicopter, landing at the Auchenharvie playing fields where he was entertained by the Auchenharvie Academy school band and chatted to some of the waiting crowd, before being taken by car to visit the ASSET offices in Green Street, Saltcoats, which was the main reason for his visit.
After being shown around and talking to the staff, Prince Charles visited Saltcoats Town Hall where he was shown about by District Councillor Sam Gooding and Regional Councillor Dan McMillan. Before travelling to Ardrossan, Prince Charles spent some time on a walkabout in Countess Street, Saltcoats, meeting several members of the waiting crowds.
He was then driven to the ASSET Ardrossan Business Centre in Glasgow Street. Waiting outside the Business Centre was fourteen-year-old Robert McKerrell of Whitlees Court, Ardrossan, who had been chosen to play the bagpipes for Prince Charles arrival.
At Ardrossan, Prince Charles had a look at the different businesses housed within the Business Centre and talked to various members of the staff. These included: William Crate, Solicitor (Unit 3); Meighan Kit Houses (Unit 3A); Enterprise Executive Services Ltd., Accountancy Services (Unit 4); Mar-Y-Rose Estate Agents (Unit 5); Brown & Wigton Heating and plumbing engineers (Unit 8); Sema (who manufactured gas detectors – Units 9 and 10); A.E. Technical Services, Land surveyors and civil engineers (Unit 12); Russell Ferguson, Marketing consultant (Unit 13); and Mynde Ceramics (Unit 16). Afterwards Prince Charles went on a walkabout to meet the crowd gathered in Glasgow Street. Originally scheduled to spend one hour in the area, Prince Charles extended his visit to nearly two hours before returning to the Auchenharvie playing fields where he delighted crowds by piloting the helicopter himself.