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PHOTOS: KENSINGTON PALACE
CROWDS COME OUT FOR PRINCE HARRY
& MEGHAN MARKLE'S VISIT TO THE WIRRAL
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Birkenhead with
hundreds of people lining the streets to catch a glimpse of the
royal couple.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited to the Wirral by MP
Frank Field and visited local projects and organisations that support
and empower groups within our community.
As their first official engagement of 2019, their Royal Highnesses
started their tour at Hamilton Square, where Harry and Meghan
viewed the new sculpture erected in November to mark the 100th
anniversary of Wilfred Owen’s death. The statue, which is named
after one of the Birkenhead war poet’s poems, ‘Futility’, is cast in
bronze and represents an exhausted World War One solider.
The Duke and Duchess unveiled a plaque to mark the visit, before
meeting local veterans and members of the Birkenhead Institute Old
Boys, of which Wilfred Owen belonged to. Their Royal Highnesses
then had the opportunity to meet members of the public gathered in
Hamilton Square.
Following on from Hamilton Square, the couple then moved on to
officially open Number 7 at the Pyramids Shopping Centre, which is
a subsidised café and supermarket and has been set up in partnership
with MP Frank Field’s charitable organisation, Feeding Birkenhead.
Frank Field commented: “I am absolutely thrilled that the Duke
and Duchess of Sussex graciously accepted my invitation to visit
Birkenhead. Number 7 aims to be at the cutting edge of fighting
poverty in the town and it will be a moment to treasure – for our
customers, staff, volunteers, and supporters – to have the royal
couple officially launch the project.
“Likewise, Her Royal Highness will issue the first of Feeding
Birkenhead’s baby boxes so that a young mum can be as proud
in taking her baby to appointments as other mums who are more
fortunately placed,” said Frank.
14 wirrallife.com
Their third engagement was at Tomorrow’s Women Wirral - an
organisation that supports women in vulnerable circumstances.
Tomorrow’s Women Wirral offers an extensive range of training
courses and workshops for more than 6000 local women, including
support groups around mental health issues, domestic abuse, and
addiction. They were awarded at the recent Wirral Life Awards for
the outstanding work that they undertake. The Duke and Duchess
heard directly from the women about their experiences, before
visiting the onsite charity shop, café, and Inspiration Hall.
Their final engagement took place at the Hive Wirral Youth Zone.
The Duke and Duchess met young members as they took part in a
number of activities and workshops throughout the centre, before
unveiling a plaque to mark the visit.
Adam Mellor, Chief Executive Officer at The Hive Youth Zone (also
Wirral Life Awards winners), said: “It was an amazing experience
for the young people to meet the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and
have a chance to talk about what being a member of the Youth Zone
means to them. We are delighted that the royal couple chose to visit
us and see how the team here is working hard to change lives in the
Birkenhead and Wirral community. It was great that they were able
to see the work we’re doing as part of the ‘Bee Yourself ’ campaign. It
celebrates and promotes positive female role models, so meeting The
Duchess of Sussex has really inspired our members.”
MP Frank Field said he hoped the couple will come back to
Birkenhead in the future adding: "They won't be coming to visit the
same projects again, but I hope they will come back to the area as
they continue to increase their workload. These are four good stories
for Birkenhead and it's rather nice the nation will be able to hear
them. Each of the projects are very dependent on private donations
and I hope this visit will encourage further donations in the hope of
securing their futures."