27 February 2007
HRH PRINCESS ALEXANDRA VISITS THE ROYAL STAR & GARTER HOME AND MEETS WITH SOME UNUSUAL FELLOW GUESTS
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra visited The Royal Star & Garter Home in Richmond last week and found herself among some very unusual fellow guests. The Princess, who is President of the Charity for disabled ex-Service men and women, joined residents for a very special presentation of exotic animals.
Her Royal Highness watched with great interest as Charles Mason of Impeyan Productions presented a collection of extraordinary animals including a 15 month old tortoise, an armadillo, an Indian Fruit Bat, a Chinchilla, a Skunk, a South American lizard and a 12 ft Boa Constrictor! Charles gave a brief description of each animal before handing them around for residents to see and also to hold if they wished.
The Princess stayed for the whole presentation and chatted to every resident as they enjoyed the show together.
Her Royal Highness, who was escorted by Surgeon Rear Admiral Michael Farquharson-Roberts, Governor of the Home, and Lynn McDougall, Chief Executive, also visited the Home’s kitchen where Head Chef Leslie Barlow introduced members of his staff and took the Princess on a tour of the food preparation and cooking areas.
Before departing the Princess signed the visitors’ book and chatted to staff who had gathered in the main hall.
About the Royal Star & Garter Charity – founded in 1916.
The Royal Star & Garter Charity has been caring for disabled ex-Service personnel since 1916. The Charity offers the best in nursing and therapeutic care for anyone is physically disabled or incapacitated and has served in Her Majesty’s Forces. There are also a wide variety of leisure activities available for our residents to enjoy, both internally and at outside venues. The Royal Star & Garter Charity is embarking on an ambitious and wide reaching project to build new homes, in the South West London area and elsewhere, to provide specialist care for elderly disabled ex-Service people in the best modern surroundings and will include a specialist dementia wing. The first of these will open in Solihull in the summer of 2008.
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FURTHER INFO: Patsy Willis, Director of Fundraising & Public Relations, The Royal Star & Garter Homes.
TEL: 020 8439 8110 EMAIL: patsy.willis@starandgarter.org