City meets the royals

Features | By Amy Ripley

City was alight with excitement at the start of the year when HRH The Duchess of Sussex, arguably one of the most influential women in the world, visited to attend an engagement with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

 

Almost 100 enthusiastic City students were in the front row to catch a glimpse of Her Royal Highness as she met students from the Commonwealth studying in the UK, for whom access to university has transformed their lives. During the visit, The Duchess heard more about how the ACU is working to promote inclusion and access to education for underrepresented groups and spoke to students about their research in the fields of sustainability, global health and peace and reconciliation.

 

But did you know that City has welcomed many other members of the Royal Family to its campus at Northampton Square?

 

In March 2017, HRH the Princess Royal, in her role as Chancellor of the University of London, met staff and students when she opened the new main entrance at Northampton Square, part of a multimillion-pound estates redevelopment project that transformed access to the University.

 

City was especially honoured in May 2003 when Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh opened the new state-of-the-art building for the Sir John Cass Business School at Bunhill Row, an event still fondly remembered today by staff who were there. It was the Duke’s second visit to City as he was the principal guest and speaker at a Guest Night Dinner in July 1965.

 

In 2009, the School of Arts (as it then was) had a moment under the royal gaze when The Duke of York opened the new £23 million headquarters in the Rhind Building.

 

Prince Albert and Princess Paola of Belgium brought a touch of European glamour to City in October 1984 when they opened the Belgium Today Exhibition in The Great Hall. Even Diana, Princess of Wales visited in the late 1980s as part of the UK National No Smoking Day campaign.

 

Prince George, Duke of Kent attended the opening of the Connaught Building in 1932. The Connaught Building, now rebuilt as the Rhind Building, contained laboratories and workshops for chemistry and specialist manufacture including lenses, clocks and watches.

In 1917, during the First World War, Queen Mary, the grandmother of the current Queen, visited City to inspect the Technical Optics Department. The Times reported at the time:

 

“The Queen visited the Northampton Polytechnic Institute, Clerkenwell, this afternoon, where classes have been arranged for training Disabled Sailors and Soldiers as Electrical Sub-Station Attendants. Her Majesty also inspected the shops of the newly instituted lens-grinding section of the Department of Technical Optics”.

 

The recent visit of HRH The Duchess of Sussex was a huge success and saw a flurry of headlines mentioning City in everything from Vanity Fair to the Basildon Recorder proving that City is very much a player on the global education stage. There is no doubt that City will continue to welcome royal guests in the future and with the recently arrived royal babies, who knows who may visit us, or study with us, in years to come.

City was alight with excitement at the start of the year when HRH The Duchess of Sussex, arguably one of the most influential women in the world, visited to attend an engagement with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

Almost 100 enthusiastic City students were in the front row to catch a glimpse of Her Royal Highness as she met students from the Commonwealth studying in the UK, for whom access to university has transformed their lives.  During the visit, The Duchess heard more about how the ACU is working to promote inclusion and access to education for underrepresented groups and spoke to students about their research in the fields of sustainability, global health and peace and reconciliation. 

But did you know that City has welcomed many other members of the Royal Family to its campus at Northampton Square?

In March 2017, HRH the Princess Royal, in her role as Chancellor of the University of London, met staff and students when she opened the new main entrance at Northampton Square, part of a multimillion-pound estates redevelopment project that transformed access to the University.  

City was especially honoured in May 2003 when Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh opened the new state-of-the-art building for the Sir John Cass Business School at Bunhill Row, an event still fondly remembered today by staff who were there. It was the Duke’s second visit to City as he was the principal guest and speaker at a Guest Night Dinner in July 1965.

In 2009, the School of Arts (as it then was) had a moment under the royal gaze when The Duke of York opened the new £23 million headquarters in the Rhind Building.

Prince Albert and Princess Paola of Belgium brought a touch of European glamour to City in October 1984 when they opened the Belgium Today Exhibition in The Great Hall.  Even Diana, Princess of Wales visited in the late 1980s as part of the UK National No Smoking Day campaign.

Prince George, Duke of Kent attended the opening of the Connaught Building in 1932. The Connaught Building, now rebuilt as the Rhind Building, contained laboratories and workshops for chemistry and specialist manufacture including lenses, clocks and watches.

In 1917, during the First World War, Queen Mary, the grandmother of the current Queen, visited City to inspect the Technical Optics Department. The Times reported at the time: 

“The Queen visited the Northampton Polytechnic Institute, Clerkenwell, this afternoon, where classes have been arranged for training Disabled Sailors and Soldiers as Electrical Sub-Station Attendants.  Her Majesty also inspected the shops of the newly instituted lens-grinding section of the Department of Technical Optics”.

The recent visit of HRH The Duchess of Sussex was a huge success and saw a flurry of headlines mentioning City in everything from Vanity Fair to the Basildon Recorder proving that City is very much a player on the global education stage. There is no doubt that City will continue to welcome royal guests in the future and with the  recently arrived royal babies, who knows who may visit us, or study with us, in years to come.