KENSINGTON PALACE:
THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE WILL VISIT RAF AIR CADETS 

Cambridgeshire 

Tuesday 14th February, 2017

The Duchess of Cambridge will visit an RAF base in Cambridgeshire to meet with local air cadets. Her Royal Highness became Royal Patron and Honorary Air Commandant of the Air Cadet Organisation, in December 2015.

The Duchess will be introduced to air cadets from the Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Wing Air Training Corps, who are taking part in a half-term skills development camp. The week acts as an initial “camp experience” for cadets who are in their first six months of membership.

Her Royal Highness will join the cadets as they view a Tutor aircraft, and participate in a personal development training session, The Duchess will also have the chance to fly a flight simulator while there.

The RAF Air Cadets is made up of the Air Training Corps (ATC) and Combined Cadet Force (CCF). It promotes a practical interest in aviation among both young men and women, providing training and encouraging the development of life skills including leadership and teamwork. The organisation currently comprises 41,000 air cadets aged 12-19, and 15,000 adult volunteers across the UK and abroad.

This will be The Duchess’s third visit to the RAF Air Cadets since The Duke of Edinburgh passed his Patronage to The Duchess, after 63 years serving as Air Commodore-in-Chief.

For more information on the Air Cadets, please visit: http://www.raf.mod.uk/aircadets/

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Battersea Dogs & Cats Home have today announced that The Duchess of Cornwall has become their new Royal Patron.

The news was first announced on Twitter by Clarence House as the Duchess, joined celebrity ambassadors David Gandy and Amanda Holden for a special visit to the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Windsor centre on Wednesday morning.

The Duchess of Cornwall chatted to staff outside the centre, before heading inside where she met some of its canine residents including an adorable spaniel named Willow.

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home’s chief executive Claire Horton said, ‘Battersea has long considered The Duchess of Cornwall to be a very close and dear friend and a huge supporter of our work, so it’s absolutely wonderful to now welcome Her Royal Highness as our new Royal Patron.

‘Having re-homed two Battersea dogs, Beth and Bluebell, and visited us on numerous occasions, we feel The Duchess is already part of our special Battersea family and we look forward with such enthusiasm to an even closer connection in the years to come.’

Claire Horton went on to add, ‘We were so thrilled to welcome our new Royal Patron to Battersea Old Windsor for the very first time. Today’s visit was a great opportunity to show Her Royal Highness behind the scenes of our Berkshire centre and explain the many benefits such a rural setting offers our animals.

‘It’s a peaceful, country haven, particularly for those dogs who long to romp around in grassy fields. We know The Duchess really enjoyed her visit and she will be a tireless supporter of our vital work, for which we are truly grateful.’

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ROYAL COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA ADVISORY 

30th January, 2017

THE QUEEN WILL UNVEIL THE IRAQ AFGHANISTAN MEMORIAL AND, TOGETHER WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, ATTEND A SERVICE OF DEDICATION 

Central London, 9th March 2017 

Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will attend a Service of Dedication on Horse Guards Parade before formally unveiling the new Iraq Afghanistan Memorial on Victoria Embankment Gardens, London, on Thursday, 9th March. The Memorial honours all UK Service personnel and civilians who took part in conflicts in the Gulf region, Iraq and Afghanistan between 1990 and 2015.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal and Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra will also attend the Service of Dedication, together with 2,500 invited guests. These include current Service personnel, veterans, representatives of departments and bodies including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the National Health Service, and representatives of various charities and aid organisations.

Following the Service of Dedication, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will travel to Victoria Embankment Gardens, where Her Majesty will unveil the Iraq Afghanistan Memorial in the presence of the Memorial Trustees, together with individuals who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families.

On conclusion of the unveiling ceremony, members of the Royal Family, led by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, will attend a reception on Horse Guards Parade for those who attended the Service of Dedication.

Further information about the Iraq Afghanistan Memorial and the Service of Dedication can be found here.

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The Georgian Papers Programme

Reappraising George III 

Placing the Royal Archives’ substantial Georgian papers collection online, for anyone anywhere in the world to access, marks a transformation in the interest, study and understanding of this crucial period in British and world history. Using 21st century technology to shine new light, colour and context on history, the portal will allow a reappraisal of, and bring new insights to, a complex, engaged polymath and highly informed Monarch. George III is often labelled as ‘mad’, or the King who lost America. Over the next four years, the Georgian Papers Programme – collaboration between Royal Collection Trust and lead academic partner King’s College London – promises to reveal many more dimensions to Britain’s longest reigning King and his family. A BBC Two documentary George III – The Genius of the Mad King has followed the early phases.

On January 28, 2017 a new global online portal will be launched officially, allowing the public and scholars alike a unique window into the life, reign and times of King George III, his impact then and his continuing influence on today’s world. It marks a major milestone in a five year project to enable anyone with an interest in George III to discover the intricacies of his life, reign and the contemporary times.

By 2020, the portal www.royalcollection.org.uk/georgianpapers will enable people to enter a remarkable collection of 350,000 papers from the Georgian period, only 15% of which have ever been published before.

They include intimate letters between The King and Queen Charlotte, Household bills, menus, as well as copious letters between The King and his government, his many essays – including on despotism – meticulous, detailed notes about the war in America, and lucid, calm letters to family during his bouts of illness.

Since 1912, the papers have been stored, with restricted physical access, within the Royal Archives in Windsor Castle’s Round Tower.

From January 28, the first 33,000 digitally photographed pages will be published online and open to anyone to access, enabling academics, students and history lovers worldwide to see George III, Britain’s longest reigning King from 1760 to 1820, from new perspectives.

The Georgian Papers Programme (GPP) is a partnership between Royal Collection Trust, lead academic partner King’s College London and international participants, including primary U.S. partners the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture and William & Mary, as well as other key U.S. institutions such as the Library of Congress, Mount Vernon and the Sons of the American Revolution.

With Her Majesty’s full authority, the project is part of Royal Collection Trust’s objective to increase public access to and understanding of primary source material held in the collection. It follows the success of the digitisation of Queen Victoria’s journals in 2012, which has encouraged wide public appreciation.

The GPP was launched in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen at Windsor Castle in April 2015. Since then, acclaimed documentary producer John Bridcut and writer and presenter Robert Hardman have been following the initial stages of the project.

Their film George III – The Genius of The Mad King will be broadcast on BBC Two at 9pm on January 30. It follows academics from King’s College London and the Omohundro Institute eagerly opening boxes of papers never before properly explored. The documentary shows experts beginning the process of discovery:

Revealing that George III had a network of private agents. One, code-named Aristarchus, a ‘Georgian James Bond’, asking for payment for the intelligence that the French were plotting to assassinate the King as he walked at night in The Queen’s Garden.

A draft of Abdication, covered in blotches and scratchings, during the political crisis of March 1783 amid the difficulties in forming a Government. It was never deployed.

Several dated and immaculately time-coded letters between the King and Ministers over one day, a Sunday, during that same crisis

An instruction manual on Kingship written by George III’s father for his 10 year old son.

George III’s drawings and calculations of the Transit of Venus across the sun on June 23, 1769 and his – accurate – forecasts of further transits in 1874 and 2004.

Instructions from The King to Captain Cook before his ground breaking voyages

Poignantly, finding an almost pristine lock of hair taken from Prince Alfred before he died aged 1 year and 10 months in 1782, sewn in to a letter from Queen Charlotte to the children’s long-serving nanny Lady Charlotte Finch

Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History at King’s College London, tells the documentary: “The King takes his job very seriously. He is processing knowledge on a proto-industrial scale as a part of his role. He’s the best informed Chief Executive this country has ever had.”

Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Regius Professor of Psychiatry at King’s College London, tells the programme that we may never know exactly what was wrong with George III, it may have been hypomania, but breakdowns often came amid turmoil at home, including the premature death of his youngest daughter Princess Amelia from tuberculosis.

Arthur Burns, Professor of Modern British History at King’s College London and Academic Director for the Georgian Papers Programme at King’s, says that the papers reveal how George III’s exercise of Kingship reflected his strong sense of commitment to the nation and both self-examination and serious reflection on what it mean to be a ‘good King’.

Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Professor of History at the University of Virginia and the first of five visiting Sons of the American Revolution GPP Professors to visit Windsor, talks about papers revealing George III’s ‘voracious interest’ in every detail of the war in America, from how many soldiers and blankets were required, to recording every detail of the French fleet, including canons, in his own hand.

Launching the GPP Portal, Oliver Urquhart Irvine, the Librarian and Assistant Keeper of The Royal Archives said: “Her Majesty fully supports the work currently underway to make the historic treasures of the Royal Archives widely accessible to the world through digital technology. This enables us to open to the many, what was previously only accessible to a few. Seeing original documents is utterly compelling. You can feel the passion, personality, worries and triumphs of individuals who have shaped major events. It can change your perspective on history.”

He explained that the GPP academic partners have established a series of more than 50 visiting graduate and undergraduate fellowships and five visiting professorships, based at the Royal Archives to support the programme over the coming years.

In the last 12 months, the Round Tower floor has been refitted to allow the digitisation, cataloguing and conservation work for the Georgian Papers Programme to begin. Further refurbishments have created a new research room, open five days a week, increasing capacity to support external research from 500 hours a year to 6000 hours a year, a twelve-fold increase.

Dr. Joanna Newman, Vice President (International) King’s College London and the college’s GPP lead said: “We are only just starting to explore this amazing resource and the opportunity for reinterpretation and scrutiny of many aspects of 18th and early 19th century life, political, social and economic, as well as seeing George III through more informed perspectives. He was fascinated by science. The Industrial Revolution happened on his watch. It’s appropriate that George III is now breaking new ground in the digital sphere, bringing value at all academic levels, from undergraduates upwards.”

Karin Wulf, Director of the Omohundro Institute and Professor of History at William & Mary added: “It’s clear that any number of historical subjects will be newly framed or newly illuminated. And it’s likely that a more subtle perspective on King George III, the last King of America, will be among the project’s outcomes.”

Broadcast Details: 

George III – The Genius of The Mad King  will broadcast on BBC Two on Monday 30th January at 9pm, available to catch-up on BBC iPlayer for 30 days.

To learn more about the Georgian Papers Programme, click here.

THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE WILL ATTEND THE EE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS 

London 

Sunday 12th February, 2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall. The Duke, President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and The Duchess will meet BAFTA representatives and watch the ceremony. The Duke will also present the Fellowship. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. While BAFTA is well-known for celebrating excellence and championing creativity through its awards, it is a charity committed to identifying talented individuals, and making sure they receive the encouragement, professional support and advice that will enable them to succeed, regardless of their background or other circumstances.

The Fellowship, which The Duke will present, is awarded annually at the ceremony, and is the highest accolade bestowed by the Academy to an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, television or games. The recipient of this year’s Fellowship will be announced ahead of the ceremony.

In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round learning and new talent programme, including a campaign to support young people from all backgrounds entering the film, television and games industries, which The Duke of Cambridge helped relaunch in 2013, and a scholarships programme, which features the ‘Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games’.

The Duke has been President of the Academy since February 2010, and both he and The Duchess have supported BAFTA’s charitable activities by attending events across the charity’s learning programme, including Young Game Designers and BAFTA Kids events, as well as others related to building cross-cultural collaborations with the creative industries in China.

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Attend a Guild of Health Writers Conference with Heads Together

London 

Monday 6th February, 2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend a Guild of Health Writers conference focusing on mental health, which is being supported by the Heads Together campaign.

The Guild of Health Writers is an independent membership organisation representing many of Britain’s leading health journalists and writers and encompassing the whole spectrum of health and wellbeing.

The theme of the conference is ‘The Anxiety Epidemic’ and will feature a number of guest speakers including Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind, which is one of the eight Heads Together Charity Partners. A marathon runner running the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon for Heads Together will also talk about his personal experience of anxiety.

The event is an opportunity for Their Royal Highnesses to engage with members of the Guild of Health Writers working in print, online and broadcast media on Heads Together and its ambition to create millions of conversations on mental health in 2017.

The Duke and Duchess will meet a number of members of the Guild of Health Writers, along with leaders of the Heads Together Charity Partners. After listening to the Heads Together runner speak at the conference, The Duke will give a short speech. The Duke and Duchess will then listen to the presentations of four experts on the conference theme.

Heads Together is spearheaded by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, in partnership with eight leading mental health charities and three Founding Partners. Heads Together wants to get the country talking about everyday mental health. As Charity of the Year for the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon, Heads Together will intensify its efforts over the next few months to create millions of conversations around mental health in 2017.

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THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE AND PRINCE HARRY TO JOIN TEAM HEADS TOGETHER LONDON MARATHON TRAINING DAY. 

QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK, LONDON 

Sunday 5th February 2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will join a training day with the runners taking part in the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon for Heads Together, the official Charity of the Year. The training day for Team Heads Together, the campaign to change the conversation on mental health which is spearheaded by Their Royal Highnesses, will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP) in London on Sunday 5th February.

Approximately 150 runners will take place in the training day, which will include a run around QEOP and a training session on the London Marathon Community Track, beside the former Olympic Stadium. The day will also include informative presentations and question and answer sessions in the Copper Box Arena, on training and preparing for a marathon from specialists in areas such as nutrition, running and stretching.

Team Heads Together runners will also receive advice and encouragement on how they can lead from the front in achieving the campaign mission of starting millions of conversations on mental health in 2017.

The runners are fundraising for the eight Heads Together Charity Partners or the campaign itself and there will be a session to support their efforts in raising funds for the services and support giving vital help with mental health, day in, day out.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will join runners while they are training on the London Marathon Community Track and at a warm down in the Copper Box Arena, before The Duke gives words of encouragement to the runners.

Their Royal Highnesses will also set out how all 38,000+ runners in this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon will be able to help Heads Together make it the ‘mental health marathon’, alongside supporting whichever great charity or personal cause they may be running for.

Their Royal Highnesses will be joined by Paula Radcliffe, the current Marathon World Record Holder and three-time London Marathon winner, who will also give advice and encouragement to the assembled Heads Together runners. British 400m Record Holder and London Marathon regular, Iwan Thomas, will also join the training day as part of the Team Heads Together team running this year’s Marathon and take part in a Q&A session.

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Kensington Palace Press Release: Prince Harry to visit Full Effect and Coach Core programmes in Nottingham 

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Prince Harry will visit Nottingham on Wednesday 1 February to see the work of Full Effect and Coach Core, two projects supported by The Royal Foundation that work to improve opportunities for young people. His Royal Highness visited both programmes during a visit to the city last October, and is returning to see a new strand of Full Effect’s work which provides support and mentoring to secondary school students. Prince Harry will also attend the graduation ceremony of the cohort of Nottingham Coach Core apprentices, many of whom he met at the National Ice Centre during his last visit.

Established in 2014, Full Effect has been supporting young people in the St Ann’s area of Nottingham through a combination of early intervention, mentoring and education. Over the last three years, Full Effect resilience workers and mentors have been providing a group of ‘at risk’ primary-aged children with intensive support both in school and through diversionary activities in the community. In September 2016, this support was extended to include those transitioning to secondary school – an event which for many children can be challenging. Prince Harry will join both a music and sports session at Nottingham Academy in which he will meet a number of students benefitting from the Full Effect programme, and will hear first-hand from staff about the positive impact it is having on the local school communities.

His Royal Highness will then travel to the city centre to present Coach Core apprentices with their graduation certificates at a ceremony held at Nottingham Council House. Prior to the ceremony at which Prince Harry will deliver a short speech, His Royal Highness will speak to the Nottingham graduates to hear more about their experiences of the apprenticeship since their last meeting in October. Created by the Royal Foundation in 2012 as part of the Olympic Legacy programme, the Coach Core model – a year’s apprenticeship – trains 16–24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training to become professional sports coaches in their communities. In turn, the apprentices are able to motivate and inspire other young people through sport. Through the programme, the Nottingham apprentices have had the opportunity to work and train with Coach Core’s local sporting partners including Trent Bridge Community Trust, Nottingham Rugby Club, the National Ice Centre, Epic Partners, Notts County FC Football in the Community and Nottingham Forest in the Community. Now in its fifth year, Coach Core is on track to be operating within 10 cities across the UK by spring 2017.

Following the Coach Core graduation, Prince Harry will watch two extract performances from Full Effect creative projects ‘Nott Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Look Sharp: The Barbershop’.

Full Effect also engages and mentors older young people at the Community Recording Studio based at The Russell Youth Centre in St Ann’s, helping them to acquire work-relevant skills, experience and qualifications. During his last visit to Nottingham, His Royal Highness dropped in on rehearsals for the Hip Hopera ‘Look Sharp: The Barbershop’, which was performed at the Nottingham Arts Theatre on 17 November 2016.

For more information on Full Effect and Coach Core, please visit http://full-effect.org/ and http://wearecoachcore.com/.

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Today Her Majesty The Queen visits The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich to see a very special Fiji exhibition.

Prince Harry to Visit London Ambulance Service for Heads Together in Support of Time to Talk Day 

Thursday 2nd February, 2017

As part of the Heads Together campaign, Prince Harry will visit the London Ambulance Service to help kick off this year’s Time to Talk Day, the annual awareness day run by Time to Change aimed at getting the nation talking about mental health.

The theme of this year’s Time to Talk Day is ‘conversations change lives’. His Royal Highness will start the day at the London Ambulance Service, one of many workplaces around the UK committed to promoting mental wellbeing of the workforce and who run a Time to Talk Day event. During his visit Prince Harry will speak to members of staff at London Ambulance Service who will share how the support of their colleagues has helped them overcome difficult times in their lives. His Royal Highness will hear from 999 control room staff and ambulance crews about the importance of being able to talk to colleagues about how they’re feeling and what challenges they may be coping with.

Prince Harry will then join staff in the service’s own Time to Talk Day event where he will find out more about London Ambulance Service’s LINC network. LINC, which stands for ‘Listening, Informal, Non-judgemental, Confidential’, is a voluntary network of staff who can listen and support their peers. Other activities taking place organised by the London Ambulance Service and Time to Change on the day will provide staff members with advice on how to start conversations and look after their mental wellbeing.

Heads Together is a campaign to change the conversation on mental health, spearheaded by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, in partnership with eight leading mental health charities and three Founding Partners. Visit www.headstogether.org.uk for more information.

Time to Change is a growing movement of people changing how we all think and act about mental health problems. The campaign is run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness and is funded by the Department of Health, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund. Time to Change organises Time to Talk Day, now in its fourth year, to encourage people to be more open about mental health and ready to listen. On Time to Talk Day people are being encouraged to have conversations. Organisations, including schools, universities, workplaces and sports clubs, are being encouraged to hold events where everyone can take time out and talk about mental health. Everyone is being asked to then log their conversations on the Time to Change website.

For more information please go to http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/timetotalkday.

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