Prince of Wales surprises school with visit

The Prince of Wales has made a surprise visit to a school in east Belfast during a two-day visit to Northern Ireland.

The Prince officially opened the Old Belmont School in the city, a listed building which has been restored to house a series of activities for the local community.

He then visited the new Belmont school, where he greeted pupils and staff.

Later the Prince visited the Marie Curie Cancer Care Centre in Belfast where he met staff and patients.

Charles is patron of Marie Curie and was in Belfast to help local staff celebrate the charity’s recent Charter Mark success in Northern Ireland.

He rounded off his day of public engagements with a trip down to the allotments.

At Gilnahirk outside east Belfast a local farming family identified a problem with modern housing – small or non-existent gardens, and divided some of their land into allotments.

The Prince was told 40 allotments had already been rented – with many tenants already doubling the size of their land – and the aim was to have 55 allotments in operation by next year at which time the potential for further expansion would be assessed.

Charles had a private military engagement at RAF Aldergrove before conducting a small investiture ceremony at Hillsborough Castle. He later attended a small dinner party there hosted by Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy.