The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will open the new headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, London

Thursday 23rd March 2017

Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, will open the new headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, New Scotland Yard, Victoria Embankment, London on Thursday 23rd March.

Upon arrival, The Queen and The Duke will be greeted by Acting Commissioner Craig Mackey and Commissioner-Elect Cressida Dick. The Royal Party will proceed past a display of police vehicles and two police horses into the building where they will view a selection of historical items, including a WWII uniform of a female PC and an operational order for the Coronation. After viewing plans of the new building Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will watch a demonstration of a bomb disposal robot.

The Queen and The Duke will proceed to the 8th floor where they will meet officers demonstrating “A day in the life of the Met”, featuring search dogs and uniformed staff – including a dog handler, forensic specialist and a special constable. Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will be shown items on display including plans of a crime scene and seized weapons. The Royal Party will then move to the balcony to view the Thames and Westminster skyline.

The Queen and The Duke will attend a brief reception for staff, bravery award winners, officers and partner organisations before returning to the ground floor. The Acting Commissioner will say a few words of thanks and The Queen will unveil a plaque and receive a posy before departing.

The Metropolitan Police Service was founded by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 to serve and protect the people of London. Currently the Met polices 620 square miles and serves more than eight million people across 32 boroughs in one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse cities. With more than 43,000 officers and staff the Met is the UK’s largest police service.

The original task of organising the new service was given to two Commissioners, Colonel Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne. They occupied a private house at 4 Whitehall Place, the rear premises of which were used a police station and backed on to “Great Scotland Yard”.

In 1890 the headquarters moved to a new building on Victoria Embankment which became known as “New Scotland Yard”. By 1967 the cramped Victorian offices meant a further move to a more modern building was needed so the headquarters was moved again to the present site at Broadway and the name New Scotland Yard was given to the building.

The Met began to move into the refurbished building on the Victoria Embankment in November 2016 when the building was officially renamed as New Scotland Yard. Approximately 600 staff are based in the new HQ. They were followed by the iconic revolving sign, designed by artist Edward Wright in 1968. The font is unique to New Scotland Yard, matching all the signs and room numbers within the building. The sign revolves around 5,000 times a day and the revolving triangular shape and reflective steel lettering were designed to be ‘symbolic of the Met’s constant vigilance in guarding our safety’.

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Prince Harry Joins Veterans’ Mental Health Conference
with Heads Together 

KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON

Thursday 16th March 2017

Prince Harry will attend the Veterans’ Mental Health Conference at King’s College London on Thursday 16 March, where he will lead a panel discussion with three veterans on the benefits of having open conversations and getting the right support for a range of mental health issues.

The event is organised by the King’s Centre for Military Health Research with Forces in Mind Trust. Prince Harry is attending as part of the Heads Together campaign to change the conversation on mental health which he leads with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and which includes Contact, the military community mental health coalition. Contact aims to make it easier for veterans, service personnel and families to find the right help for the full range of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression.

The Prince will open the conference by leading a panel discussion with three former members of the UK and US Armed Forces: Caroline Buckle, Ivan Castro and Philip Eaglesham. They will have a group discussion about their personal experiences of addressing and managing mental health challenges, and the importance of the Armed Forces community working together to encourage an open attitude about mental health.

Prince Harry will then join delegates to listen to presentations throughout the morning which offer international perspectives on military mental health in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America. King’s Centre for Military Health Research is the leading civilian UK centre of excellence for military health research. The conference includes contributions from academics and experts in health, the military, and military support services.

After the morning session concludes, Prince Harry will also have the chance to speak to Ivan Castro, a US veteran who was blinded in Iraq, and Karl Hinnet, a UK veteran badly burned while also serving in Iraq. Karl and Ivan are running together in the Boston Marathon, for Heads Together, before taking on the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon as part of Team Heads Together, six days later. Heads Together is the Marathon’s Charity of the Year.

Contact is a collaboration of leading military charities, support organisations, the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and top academics working together to make the most effective mental health support easily accessible to Service Personnel, Ex-Service Personnel and their families. The Contact coalition incorporates: Big White Wall; Cobesco; Combat Stress; Help for Heroes; Kings Centre for Military Health Research; Kings College London; Ministry of Defence; NHS Wales; NHS England; The Royal British Legion; Uk Psychologolical Trauma Society; Walking With the Wounded; Veterans First Point.

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The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to Visit Europe to Celebrate Links between the UK and Romania, Italy, The Holy See and Austria

29th March – 6th April 2017

The Tour will highlight the UK’s relationship with European partners in areas including social cohesion, military ties and combatting human trafficking.

The British Government has asked The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall to visit Europe between 29th March and 6th April 2017. The Tour will begin in Romania – The Prince will visit Bucharest and the surrounding area from 29th-31st March. The Prince and Duchess will then undertake engagements in Italy and the Holy See from 31st March – 5th April and in Vienna from 5th-6th April.

The Prince of Wales has visited Romania officially once before. His Royal Highness has visited Italy officially 19 times, and The Duchess of Cornwall has visited once. The Prince has undertaken two previous visits to the Vatican, and The Duchess of Cornwall one. His Royal Highness has visited Austria officially 3 times and this will be The Duchess’s first official visit.

Engagement highlights include:

– A visit to The Holy See, where The Prince and Duchess will meet His Holiness Pope Francis, and will tour the Vatican.

– A trip to Amatrice in central Italy where The Prince will meet some of those affected by the earthquake which hit the region in August 2016. His Royal Highness will talk to local families, emergency service personnel and some of those co-ordinating the reconstruction effort.

– In Florence, TRHs will visit the British Institute of Florence and attend a dinner to celebrate the centenary of the Institute. During the dinner, His Royal Highness will be presented with a ‘Renaissance Man of the Year’ Award, which is an annual award given by the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation.

– On the theme of social cohesion, The Duchess of Cornwall will visit ‘La Gloriette’, a villa in Naples which has been confiscated from the mafia and now houses a project to help young people socialize and integrate into their community.

– His Royal Highness will meet the President of Romania, and Their Royal Highnesses will meet the Presidents of Italy and Austria.

– His Royal Highness will pay his respects at the national war memorial in Romania and in North East Italy, he will mark the centenary of the deployment of British Forces to the Austrian Front.

– During their visit to Austria, The Royal couple will celebrate the city’s unique cultural heritage, including a visit to the Musikverein and the Spanish Riding School.

– At several points during the tour, Their Royal Highnesses will learn about the work taking place to tackle human trafficking. In Bucharest and Vienna, The Prince will learn of the co-operation between the UK and other European countries in this area. In Florence, The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Associazione Progetto Arcobaleno, a project which helps immigrants and the impoverished, as well as the female victims of human trafficking, by providing language classes and career advice.

Additional engagements of the tour will include:

Romania
The Prince will visit the National Theatre in Bucharest to see the best of Romanian acting, music, dance and set design.

As Patron of The FARA Foundation, His Royal Highness will visit an orphanage run by the charity which transforms the lives of vulnerable and traumatised children and young people.

The Prince will also visit projects preserving traditional skills and vernacular architecture which complement the work of his own Foundation in Romania.

Italy
In Naples, The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Herculaneum, where she will hear how international partnerships and Italian expertise are transforming the archaeological site and surrounding communities.

In Florence, Their Royal Highnesses will sample some of the best ‘Slow Food’ that the region has to offer.

TRHs will also attend an event to recognise the work of The Prince’s ‘Campaign for Wool’, which raises awareness amongst consumers about the unique, natural, renewable and biodegradable benefits offered by the fibre.

In Rome, His Royal Highness will visit the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation to hear about their work to address the developing famine in the Horn of Africa and the contribution which has been made by UK aid.

Austria
In Vienna, the Royal couple will tour the world famous Wiener Musikverein, where they will see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra rehearse and will view a number of original manuscripts by composers such as Mozart and Brahms from the Musikverein’s archives.

The Prince and Duchess will also visit an organic Heuriger and learn about the production of Austrian wine.

His Royal Highness will also visit the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and will join discussions which are taking place on modern slavery and freedom of religion and belief.

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Kensington Palace: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Paris 

 17th & 18th March 2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will undertake an official two-day visit to Paris on 17th and 18th March. Their Royal Highness’ visit is at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Full details of the visit will be announced in due course, but the itinerary will include a reception for young French leaders from a variety of fields, a formal dinner at the residence of Her Majesty’s Ambassador and attendance at the Wales v France Six Nations test at the Stade de France.

Friday, March 17th
Meeting with a French government representative
Further details will be announced in due course.

Reception hosted by Her Majesty’s Ambassador, British Embassy Paris 
The Duke and Duchess will attend a reception to mark the launch of “Les Voisins”, a celebration of UK-French links, hosted by Her Majesty’s Ambassador at the British Embassy Paris. Their Royal Highnesses will meet young French leaders from the arts, sport, fashion, business, and voluntary sectors, as well as young military award winners.

Dinner hosted by Her Majesty’s Ambassador, British Embassy Paris
The Duke and Duchess will attend a black tie dinner hosted by Her Majesty’s Ambassador.

Saturday, March 18th
Les Invalides
The Duke and Duchess will visit Les Invalides to hear more about the important historic and current role of the site, in particular its work supporting veterans and its rehabilitation programmes. Their Royal Highnesses will also meet a number of victims and first responders from the Bataclan and Nice attacks.

Wales vs France RBS Six Nations match, Stade du France
The Duke and Duchess will attend the Wales vs France RBS Six Nations match at the Stade du France. This will be His Royal Highness’s first engagement as Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union since Her Majesty The Queen stepped down as its Patron in December 2016.

More details to follow…

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The Countess of Wessex to Visit Malawi

13th-16th March

The Countess of Wessex, Vice Patron of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, will visit Malawi to see the work being done to end avoidable blindness and champion youth leadership.

On Tuesday 14th March Her Royal Highness will travel to the Kasungu district where she will see the activities underway as part of the Trust’s initiative to eliminate blinding trachoma. The Countess will visit an educational programme at Chisuwe Primary School and meet a family affected by trachoma in their home.

Later that day The Countess will tour Kasungu District Hospital, meeting patients undergoing surgery for trachoma and the medical staff treating them. That evening HRH will call on the President of the Republic of Malawi, Mr Peter Mutharika, at State House. Afterwards His Excellency will host a State Dinner for The Countess.

On Wednesday 15th March The Countess will visit Lilongwe’s Kamuzu Hospital to see the impact of the Trust’s work to build long term capacity in Malawi to deliver quality eye care services. These include scholarships, fellowships and training for eye specialists as well as the development of new technology. HRH will meet patients being screened for eye diseases including by the new smart-phone based retinal scanning technology, Peek Retina. HRH will continue to see how new technology is impacting on diagnostics at a Primary School, where she will see a demonstration of the PEEK School screening app.

As Vice Patron of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust The Countess will also undertake two visits to projects run by The Queen’s Young Leaders, a Trust initiative to encourage and support exceptional young leaders in Commonwealth Countries who are changing young lives for the better.

On 15th March HRH will meet young women being supported by the ‘Girls Arise for Change’ initiative – a project set up by Queen’s Young Leader Virginia Khunguni, teaching work place skills to young women affected by violence and lack of education. The Countess will also see the ‘Loud Ink’ project in action. Set up by Queen’s Young Leader Madalo Banda, ‘Loud Ink’ provides young writers with a platform to engage in social issues through short stories.

In support of The Trust’s aim of encouraging youth leadership across the Commonwealth The Countess will also attend a reception for Malawi Young Leaders. HRH will also attend a reception on Monday 13th to celebrate Commonwealth Day.

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The Queen and The Royal Family Celebrate Commonwealth Day 2017

Monday 13th March 2017

Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry, The Duke of York and The Earl of Wessex will attend the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on Commonwealth Day – Monday 13th March.

Organised by The Royal Commonwealth Society, the Service is the largest annual inter-faith gathering in the United Kingdom. The Service will be broadcast live on BBC One and across BBC World Service, in celebration of Her Majesty’s lifetime commitment to the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is a vast community which embraces diversity among its 52 countries and almost 2.5 billion people, of which 60 per cent are under 30 years old.

Each year the Commonwealth adopts a theme, upon which the Commonwealth Service is based. In 2017 the theme is ‘A Peace-building Commonwealth’, reaffirming the Commonwealth Charter principle that “international peace and security, sustainable economic growth and development and the rule of law are essential to the progress and prosperity of all.”

Highlights of the Service will include performances by Australian musician, Cody Simpson, George the Poet, a British spoken word performer and social commentator of Ugandan heritage, Canadian soprano, Measha Brueggergosman and Maltese poet and writer, Dr Immanuel Misfud. The Prime Minister of Malta and Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth; The Hon. Dr Joseph Muscat MP, and Cameroonian peace advocate; Achaleke Christian Leke, a former victim of radicalisation and violence, will give reflections.

The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will also feature in the Service as The Queen’s Baton, launched at Buckingham Palace earlier that day, is processed through the Abbey by Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and escorted by Australian and UK athletes including Anna Meares OAM, Victoria Pendleton CBE and Kurt Fearnley OAM.

Guests of honour among the 2,000 strong congregation will include the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, alongside High Commissioners, Ambassadors and dignitaries, senior politicians from across the UK and Commonwealth, faith leaders and 800 school children.

The Service will conclude with a procession of Commonwealth Flags. The Queen and Members of the Royal Family will meet people involved in the Service and walk by the Commonwealth Flag Bearers upon departure. Following the Service, Prince Harry, The Duke of York and The Earl of Wessex will walk through the Dean’s Yard to attend a Reception.

Later that evening, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will be guests of the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Scotland, at the annual Reception which traditionally takes place on Commonwealth Day at Marlborough House, the home of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Background

The Queen has been Head of the Commonwealth throughout her 65 year reign. This is an important symbolic and unifying role. As Head, Her Majesty personally reinforces the links by which the Commonwealth joins people together from around the world.

Throughout Her Majesty’s reign, the Commonwealth has grown from just seven nations to 52 members representing almost 2.5 billion people. During this time, The Queen has played a unique part as a symbol of unity and strength at the heart of the Commonwealth.

During her reign, The Queen has undertaken more than 200 visits to Commonwealth countries and visited every country of the Commonwealth (with the exception of Cameroon, which joined in 1995 and Rwanda which joined in 2009) as well as making many repeat visits.

Commonwealth Day is an opportunity to promote the Commonwealth’s shared values of peace, democracy and equality, and to celebrate the rich diversity of the Commonwealth’s 52 member countries. Across the Commonwealth, school children, communities, civil society organisations and governments will be marking the day with a wide range of events and activities.

Commonwealth Day was first celebrated in 1958. The year 2017 marks 40 years since it became a global celebration on the same day every year, the second Monday in March. On 1 January 2017, Her Majesty sent a message of congratulations to the people of Canada in the 150th anniversary year of Confederation – https://www.royal.uk/message-queen-people-canada

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Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth and Patron,
Commonwealth Games Federation, accompanied by
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, and
His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex, Vice Patron,
will Launch The Queen’s Baton Relay for the
XXI Commonwealth Games being held on the Gold Coast in 2018 

Monday 13th March 2017
Commonwealth Day

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh and The Earl of Wessex, will Launch The Queen’s Baton Relay for the XXI Commonwealth Games being held on the Gold Coast from 4th-15th April 2018 on the Forecourt of Buckingham Palace on the morning of Commonwealth Day, Monday 13th March 2017.

Louise Martin, CBE, President, Commonwealth Games Federation, Peter Beattie, AC, Chairman, Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation and two Elder representatives of the Yugambeh people, will be presented to Her Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses inside Buckingham Palace, and shortly afterwards, the Royal and official party will make their way onto the dais on the Forecourt.

Prior to the arrival of the Royal party, The Queen’s Baton will have been brought onto the Forecourt by Kurt Fearnley, OAM, who will have travelled along The Mall from Marlborough House accompanied by the Band of the Scots Guards.

Also on the Forecourt will be young people each carrying a flag of the 70 Commonwealth nations and territories, and world-renowned Gold Coast singer and environmental champion, Cody Simpson, will perform at the ceremony, representing his home city and country.

The Band of the Scots Guards will play the National Anthems of the United Kingdom and Australia and shortly afterwards, the Elders will deliver an ‘invitation’ to all first nations people of the Commonwealth to unite together to celebrate the Games.

The Queen’s Message will be brought onto the dais and Her Majesty will be invited to place it into the Baton which is then automatically sealed. The Queen then presents the Baton to Anna Meares, OAM, the most decorated female track cyclist of all time, who will then start the Baton Relay by running to the Centre Gate before passing it to cyclist Victoria Pendleton, CBE, to run it around the Queen Victoria Memorial (QVM). The Baton will exit the QVM area and be taken down The Mall with a third Baton-bearer.

The Baton will next be seen at the Commonwealth Day Service in Westminster Abbey and the first stop on The Queen’s Baton Relay following the ceremonies in London will be Sierra Leone. The Baton will travel to all nations and territories of the Commonwealth, before eventually arriving at the Opening Ceremony of the XXI Commonwealth Games on 4th April, 2018.

For further information about the journey that The Queen’s Baton will take, view: https://www.gc2018.com/qbr#

Background

The Queen’s Baton Relay is a Games tradition that celebrates the Commonwealth’s diversity, inspires community pride and excites people about the world-class festival of sports and culture to come.

Since the Cardiff 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (as the Games were known at the time) The Queen’s Baton has carried a message from Her Majesty calling the Commonwealth’s athletes to come together in peaceful and friendly competition.

The GC2018 Relay will be the longest and most accessible in history, travelling through the entire Commonwealth for 388 days and 230,000 kilometres.

The Baton will visit all Commonwealth nations and territories of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania for 288 days before it arrives in Australia.

The Queen’s Baton Relay will share the excitement of the Games with millions of people around the world, shining a light on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and the world-class sporting action to come.

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will be staged from 4-15 April 2018.

More than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 Commonwealth nations and territories will come to Australia to share in the excitement of the Games.

GC2018 will be the largest event to be staged in Australia this decade.

GC2018 will feature the largest integrated sports program in Commonwealth Games history, comprising 18 sports and seven para-sports.

Australia will host the world’s greatest athletes at GC2018, including Olympic champions, world-class sporting greats and up-and-coming sports stars.

More than 3000 international media will attend GC2018 and broadcast to a global audience of more than 1.5 billion.

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Ben, thank you. I think you’ve said it all – about what incredible work SkillForce does, why character education for young people matters and what this award is aiming to achieve.  I hope you can all see from Ben’s overview why, as Royal Patron, I am so passionate about SkillForce and so proud to be here today to launch this awards programme that bears my name.

I believe that an individual’s academic success, wellbeing and mental health depends not only on traditional qualifications, but on nurturing non-academic attributes like self-confidence, discipline and determination.  It is not enough that someone is good at English and Maths if they cannot withstand the pressures that life throws up.

The ability for a child to develop character, courage and resilience to overcome setbacks is something about which I care deeply.  Over the years I have seen, time and again, how the development of personal skills puts a young person in better stead for education, future employment and for life.

The Prince William Award aims to do just this – to develop children’s personal skills and equip children with resilience.  It is why I am so pleased than this idea – many years in development – is finally seeing fruition. The Prince William Award dares six to fourteen year olds to be their best selves – to gain habits at an early stage of their life that will equip them for the rest of their childhood and adult lives.

The scheme is the first of its kind to target younger children from the age of six. It includes both practical and reflective learning – combining outdoor activities, like the command tasks I took part in today, with classroom based review; and crucially, it is delivered using the knowledge, skills and expertise of some of the most positive role models in our society – former Service personnel, who exemplify the virtues of courage and determination.

As Ben explained, The Prince William Award has been developed in consultation with academics and education experts and has been tried and tested in 37 pilot schools, where teachers have noted significant improvements in pupils’ confidence, communication and their ability to work with others.   The scheme will move beyond the pilot stage to launch across the country this September.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Standard Life and the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues for their generous support of the award and thank all of you here today for helping us to launch this “national first”.

Finally, thank you to the Pioneers at Bishopstone Church of England Primary School; to the Explorers at Llanfoist Fawr Primary School and to the Trailblazers at Caldicot. You are some of the very first young people in the country to take part in the Prince William Award.  Many Congratulations.

And in honour of this, I am delighted to present a commemorative trophy to each school for attending today.   Diolch yn fawr.

2017 UK-India Year of Culture Launches with Large-Scale
Projection onto Buckingham Palace Façade

To mark the start of the UK-India Year of Culture, the British Council and Indian High Commission are delighted to have commissioned a unique artwork which was projected across the entire front façade of Buckingham Palace. The image was of India’s national bird, the peacock, and visible from all approaches to the Palace from 6pm on Monday night.

Guests arriving for a special reception hosted by Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, will have see the image as they enter the gates of the Palace.

The 2017 UK-India Year of Culture will celebrate the deep cultural ties of the two countries, and the reception at Buckingham Palace will mark the start of a year-long programme of events and exhibitions which will take place in both countries – details of which will be announced on Tuesday 28 February. These events are being organised by the British Council, together with the Indian High Commission in London, UK institutions and their Indian counterparts, with the aim to connect and inspire people to celebrate the long-standing relationship and vibrant cultural history.

Her Majesty was accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and other Members of the Royal Family at last night’s reception.

The projection has been designed by Studio Carrom, the Bangalore and London-based design studio, who have created an eye-catching image of a peacock with its tail fanned across the façade. Within the feathers, dancing figures can be seen. The peacock is India’s national bird and an iconic motif representing both India and performance. This image is also reminiscent of Indian fireworks, a symbol of celebration and festivities.

Alan Gemmell OBE, British Council Director India: “It isn’t every day that you have the opportunity to project an image onto the façade of Buckingham Palace. The peacock, both regal and dramatic, is the perfect metaphor for a year of incredible cultural events connecting UK and India. By using traditional motifs in a cool and contemporary way, Carrom have come up with a stunning image for one of the world’s most iconic facades. We hope it will delight Londoners and make them curious to find out more.”

Studio Carrom: “We wanted to ensure people knew this was about India, but which would also surprise and intrigue people, encouraging them to follow the UK/India Year of Culture. It needed to be cool and contemporary as well as referencing India’s rich cultural heritage. We were drawn to the idea of performance and dance as it encompasses different people and traditions that make India such a diverse and unique country.”

This documentary, produced in collaboration with Historic Royal Palaces and presented by Brenda Emmanus, looks at some of Diana’s most celebrated and exquisite dresses, brought together for a new exhibition of her clothes at Kensington Palace in February.

Brenda visits the Conservation Studio at Hampton Court Palace as the dresses are prepared for display, and she hears from historians, cultural commentators and the designers who dressed Diana, including Elizabeth Emmanuel, Victor Edelstein and David Sassoon.