Friday, 11 Oct 2024

A royal shame! School close to Queen’s heart forced to shut despite ‘best efforts’

Prince Philip: Expert on Queen's reaction to hospitalisation

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Princess Helena College, of which the monarch is patron, announced the news to parents this week. The independent school is closely connected with another royal with Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, serving as its president.

The Duchess is the husband of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is the Queen’s first cousin.

Speaking to the Daily Mail a spokesman for Princess Helena College said: “The school has faced financial difficulties for many years.

“These have been significantly exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19 on the local and international demand for places at the school.

“Despite everyone’s best efforts, all options for keeping it open have been exhausted and, regrettably, the school will close later this year.”

The school was founded in 1820 as the Adult Orphan Institute in London.

It moved to its present site, a former country house near Hitchin, in 1935.

Princess Helena College has long royal connections with Queen Victoria serving as a previous royal patron.

In 1874 Princess Helena, Victoria’s daughter, took over as president and shortly after the school assumed its current name.

The school accepted both day and boarding students and in 2019 began admitting boys for the first time.

According to Hello Magazine Duchess of Gloucester last visited the school in February 2020, shortly before the country was forced into coronavirus lockdown.

This was for an event to commemorate its 200th anniversary.

The Queen is currently staying at Windsor Castle, where she has been for most of the pandemic.

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Earlier this month she met one of her closest aides a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (RVO) at a socially distanced ceremony.

Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, is currently recovering from illness in hospital.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Duke of Edinburgh remains at King Edward VII’s Hospital where he is receiving medical attention for an infection.

“He is comfortable and responding to treatment but is not expected to leave hospital for several days.”

Speaking to Sky News Prince Edward revealed he had recently spoken with his father.

Asked about Philip’s condition he replied: “As far as I’m aware, well I did speak to him the other day, so he’s a lot better thank you very much indeed, and he’s looking forward to getting out, which is the most positive thing.

“So we keep our fingers crossed.”

Both Prince Charles and Prince William caught coronavirus last spring before making a full recovery.

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