Earl of Wessex visits schools opened by his father

Staff from Christ’s College and Pond Meadow schools in Guildford, Surrey, recalled memories of Philip’s visit in 2009.

Edward also watched students from Christ’s College perform a short piece from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the theatre, which was opened in the duke’s name.

The earl, a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, met David Cunningham, teacher of physics and DofE Leader, along with Year 9 students who are just embarking on their bronze DofE.

Edward joined students as they demonstrated CPR and cooking on a trangia in preparation for their expedition later this year.

He also met with three members of staff who met Philip when he visited the school during the opening of Christ’s College and Pond Meadow schools in 2009.

Chrissie Thompson, head of art, said: “We are a small school, and we felt very privileged and lucky that the Duke of Edinburgh came to open Christ’s College and spent such a lot of time with students, engaging with them and showing genuine interest in what they were doing.”

Lesley Sandiford, assistant principal, said: “When the Duke of Edinburgh visited there was of course lots of organisation and plans for the visit, but the duke managed to find a closed door and found students who weren’t expecting to meet him that day!

“They loved how he interacted with them and especially how interested he was in them.”

Christ’s College principal, Sarah Hatch, said: “We were delighted to welcome HRH The Earl of Wessex to Christ’s College today and to share and reflect on the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit on June 23 2009 when he opened our school.

“The students were really pleased to speak to the earl, reflecting on their experience of the pandemic and school life as well as their DofE activities and what the Award has meant to them in the past year.”