ROYAL VISIT SPECIAL
WILLIAM, KATE, CHARLES AND CAMILLA REPORT AND PICTURES
HE may be skilled on horseback with a polo mallet, but the Duke of Cambridge found wheelchair basketball a bit of a challenge.
The second in line to the throne was visiting Stanford Hall, a rehabilitation centre for services personnel, when he had a go at the sport.
He was accompanying his wife Catherine, father, the Prince of Wales and step-mother Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, on the trip to Leicestershire, meeting those injured in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
After climbing into a wheelchair in the gym at the Ministry of Defence centre near Loughborough, he had three attempts before the Prince of Wales wheeled him a little closer to the hoop, where he scored on his sixth shot to a round of applause.
Lieutenant Commander John Shallcroft of the Royal Navy was among the patients in the gym and he got a chance to speak to him later in the visit.
He said: “They were very engaging and the Duke knows his stuff. He’s a big supporter of the armed forces.” Lance Corporal Kristine Peters also chatted with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
She said: “It was great to get a chance to talk to him.” The royals also met many of the staff at the centre, which started taking its first patients in October 2018 and is still being developed.
Clare Moss-Gothridge, who works in purchasing and met the Prince of Wales, said: “It was overwhelming – he’s really nice. It’s not every day you get to meet a royal.”
Paul Mettan, a prosthetics technician, spoke to all four royals.
He said: “It was fantastic to meet them – I didn’t think they would come in here. They were very interested and they all spoke to me – a full house!”
After unveiling a plaque to commemorate the visit, Charles, Camilla, William and Kate took their time when leaving Stanford Hall to speak to members of the military who were there to see them off.
Camilla briefly lost her handbag, but was soon reunited with it by a member of staff who had been carrying it for her.
Upon William and Kate’s departure, a woman commented that she was impressed with the Duke’s wheelchair basketball skills. However, William disagreed, and said his skills “needed some work”.