His Royal Highness Prince Charles visited Beechenhill Farm. He had announced his marriage to Camilla on the previous Friday, so there was a lot of press interest.

The Prince’s helicopter landed in the field in front of the garden at 11.50am. He was welcomed by Sue, Terry, the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Mr James Hawley, Mrs Hawley and John Giffard, the Chief Constable of Staffordshire. The Prince met some of the cottage guests.

Terry took HRH around the farm accompanied by Shep. Shep got himself mentioned in newspapers all over the world, including a piece and a photo in the Hindustan Times;
“The couple’s mud splattered border collie, Shep accompanied the Princes around the farm.” The visit appeared on national TV and even as far abroad as Jordan!

The Prince had asked his charity, Business in the Community, to organise the visit so he could meet the food producers Sue has been working to support. So after seeing the farm he had a meeting in the farmhouse kitchen with the local members of Peak District Foods, chaired by Sue. It was a very jolly and useful meeting.

Sue also chaired a meeting with the Prince and local farmers at the George Inn at Alstonefield. After that the Prince flew off from Beechenhill at 3pm. Terry and Sue Prince flew off at 4pm for their holiday in New Zealand! – Phew!

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