Pupils and staff at a Stevenage school had the surprise of their lives today when Prince William flew in and joined them for lunch.
The prince, who was on a break from transporting doctors for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, landed at the town’s John Henry Newman School at about 1pm, and enjoyed a roast chicken meal in the school canteen.
The impromptu visit came about because of the school’s proximity to the Lister Hospital, which uses one of the school fields as a makeshift helipad.
“It’s bizarre, but it’s true, yes,” said headteacher Clive Mathew.
“The site is regularly used by the air ambulance because it’s near the Lister. We clear everything away and they land. We never had anything like this happen before, though.
“We offered the prince and his colleagues lunch and they accepted – it was roast chicken, which they liked – and then he spoke to some of the students, particularly the Year 11s, and then they went.
“Everyone was very excited, as you can imagine, those who had a conversation with him especially.
“It probably made their day, if not their year, to have a conversation with the future king.”
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