His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex KG GCVO visited The Royal School Wolverhampton on Wednesday, 14th June, to officially open the school as a Free School. As Patron of the School, His Royal Highness unveiled a plaque and also spent time speaking to the School’s combined Cadet Forces and a large number of pupils and staff from the Primary and Secondary phases.
On arrival, The Earl of Wessex was greeted by Primary students and dignitaries, including Dr Keith Bradshaw, Deputy Lieutenant representing Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands; the High Sheriff of the West Midlands, John Hudson OBE DL; and the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Elias Mattu, before meeting Secondary students.
He then headed to the CCF field to meet The Royal School’s air force and army cadets and to inaugurate the partnership between The Royal School and Colton Hills Community School, who will be forming their own contingent in due course. The CCF is an important element in providing outstanding personal development opportunities beyond the traditional curriculum.
As The Earl unveiled the plaque, he joked how funny it was to ‘open’ a school that had been here for so long with him as the Patron!
On his previous visit to the School in September, 2012, The Earl of Wessex celebrated the 80th anniversary of the primary school. On this occasion, HRH spent a great deal of time speaking to students and witnessing the developments from a fee paying to a free school. As The Earl unveiled the plaque, he joked how funny it was to ‘open’ a school that had been here for so long with him as the Patron!
The Royal School was founded in 1850 originally as an orphanage, and is now a free, co-educational, independent day and boarding school serving more than 1000 students across the Primary and Senior Schools.
