Earl of Wessex delights the crowds

His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex chatted and laughed with staff, students and the Leicester community who had turned out to welcome him to De Montfort University.

Prince Edward came to Leicester to officially open the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Leisure Centre – an £8million sports facility at the heart of DMU’s campus.

See hundreds of photos of the visit on our Royal Visit 2013 web pages.

His Royal Highness was only too happy to talk with the crowds in the June sunshine before meeting with the High Sherriff of Leicestershire, Lord Mayor of Leicester and DMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard.

After a vibrant, colourful welcome from DMU Bhangra Society, The Prince was escorted to the centre’s 25-metre pool where he met members of the DMU swim and triathlon teams and started a swim race.

He was then invited to view a display of sportswear designed by students before heading into the eight-court sports hall, where His Royal Highness was treated to demonstrations by DMU’s netball and badminton teams, before seeing an energetic performance by the award-winning DMU Saints cheerleading squad.

In the fitness studio, His Royal Highness politely declined an invitation to join a spinning class – pointing out he was not appropriately dressed for strenuous exercise. In the state-of-the-art gym The Prince spoke with members of DMU Rowing Club and Professor Joan Taylor – who is developing the world’s first artificial pancreas.

Professor Taylor said: “He was very interested in the research and understood exactly what a difference it could make to people with diabetes. It was a delight to speak with him.”

Matthew Hamlyn of the DMU Rowing Team said: “He was really friendly and was asking us about our training. I thought meeting a member of the Royal Family would be overwhelming but he could not have been nicer.”

His Royal Highness praised the new Leisure Centre as “a remarkable facility” before unveiling a plaque to mark its official opening.

Then it was a short walk to Trinity House where along the way he was entertained by a performance of Chinese dance and given a rousing welcome by the DMU Gospel Choir and crowds who had gathered to see him.

After lunch, His Royal Highness officially opened The Chantry building on The Newarke as the new HQ of DMU’s Square Mile project. He also met year four pupils from Montrose Primary School, Aylestone, Leicester, who are being mentored by student volunteers. Head teacher Andy Owens said: “You do not get to meet a Prince every day. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which came along for our pupils. When DMU asked if we wanted to take part the answer was always going to be yes. This was a nice culmination of a year of working with DMU which we hope will grow and continue.”

Betty Baker-Shenton, aged nine, said: “It was a brilliant day. I liked it when we were in the Chantry and doing our poems and The Prince just came in and we all cheered. Actually, I was screaming!”

Square Mile's pioneering work to use the skills of staff and students to help the wider community were shown off to The Prince at Fosse Neighbourhood Centre.

He met students who had been trained to sign people up to Britain’s stem cell register and the team who had run a record-breaking donor drive at DMU in March. A total of 367 students were registered, making it the single biggest recruitment drive at a UK university.

The Earl of Wessex chatted to Rik and Kas Basra, of the Rik Basra Leukaemia Campaign, who have worked with Square Mile volunteer students on the project, and some of the students themselves.

“He was amazed how simple it was to register,” said Kas. “We showed him a kit so he could see how we get the stem cells. We were also able to say that in the UK, there are only donors for half the people who need them, a fact he was astonished by.

“He took the time to speak to every single person in the team and he was genuinely interested in what we are doing. He was so interested. We are so thrilled to have met The Prince, we’re still on a high!”

The Prince was then shown a short video about the work of dance company Moving Together, which is an arts awards scheme for 12 to 17 year olds. They run degree-level dance courses, fully funded by Mile2.

Georgine Payne,15, from Groby Community College, said: “The dance was partly a routine we had learned and then we changed and came up with our own moves too. The Prince said he had enjoyed watching it. He was asking how long we had been dancing.”

Millie Shurriff, 15, of Sir Jonathan North Community College, Leicester, said: “We were all so nervous beforehand! We’re really pleased with how the routine went. He was funny and interested in what we were doing. It was great to meet him and now we can say we have danced for a Prince!”

Professor Dominic Shellard said: “I was taken aback by the size of the crowds and I think The Prince could not have failed to be impressed by the amount of people who turned out to see him.

“Many people said how grateful they were for the amount of time The Prince took talking to them about their chosen sport, their work or their studies.

“It was wonderful to see how much about DMU that we were able to showcase for His Royal Highness and our bad luck in January with the weather was totally erased by the good luck that this was the hottest and sunniest day of the year so far.”

Watch a video of the royal day at DMU.