Duke of Kent on visit to St James in 200th year
MORE than 30 years after reopening the restored St James, the Duke of Kent returned for a third visit.
The busy concert hall is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year and the Duke was given a tour of the site and shown how much it has changed.
He first visited in 1985 when the hall reopened after being restored. He then came back to open the Dorey Centre – the extension behind the main concert hall – in 2002.
On this visit he unveiled his third plaque at the hall. He was also presented with a model of the hall by St James president Stephen Ainsworth.
The Duke then gave a short speech to the gathered guests, who all had strong links with St James.
‘It is a great pleasure to come here and to see what you have done,’ he said.
‘I remember the conversion of this church, and admiring it then, but it looks to me even better today. I’m so glad that it is being so well used.’
The Duke had the chance to look around the St James exhibition, celebrating its 200 years, and also meet musicians from the Southbank Sinfonia, who were playing a concert in Guernsey last night.
Among them was Laura Campbell, who grew up in Guernsey. It had been hoped that the Duke would be able to hear the musicians rehearsing.
However, a technical problem with the musicians’ flight resulted in them arriving too late to do the rehearsal.
The Duke did have a chance to look around the Guernsey Tapestry.
Earlier in the day he visited Alderney and looked around the RNLI lifeboat station there.
He travelled between the islands by helicopter, before returning to the UK last night.
The Duke is the grandson of King George VI and is Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousin.
Now aged 83, he still keeps a busy diary. He is president of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and is grand master of the United Grand Lodge of England.
