News
Prince William becomes a Royal Fellow of the Royal Society
22nd June 2010
Prince William was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society today, and was conferred the honour in front of his grandparents The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.
Other members of the Royal Family, including The Princess Royal and The Duke of Kent, attended the service which also marked the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society.
The President of the Royal Society, Martin Rees, greeted the Royal Party outside the Royal Festival Hall before giving a formal welcoming speech inside the building.
Prince William was welcomed as a Royal Fellow before giving a speech.
He said: “I have to say that, if I look at the names of some of the Society’s great Fellows – Boyle, Newton , Banks, Darwin and our current President, Lord Rees – butterflies do flutter in my stomach a little.
“It’s not just a great honour. It’s also incredibly exciting, as I am acutely aware of how vital science is to the life of this nation, and to the world. My generation will have to engage with science more fully, perhaps, than any that has preceded it. It will be through science, after all, that the world will meet and overcome the challenges of climate change, food security, water scarcity, and pandemic disease.
“Science on its own, though, is not the whole answer. Its practice must be in partnership with this total engagement of my own and future generations. It is through the genius and example of the great scientists gathered here today, and those, like the University Research Fellows, who will join our Fellowship over the coming decades, that ultimate success will, I’m sure, be achieved.”
Prince William spoke about his family’s connection to the Society.
He said: “It means a great deal to me to be following in the footsteps of not only the Patron, my grandmother, but also my grandfather and father who, incidentally, were both 29 years old when they were admitted to the Society. I am 28 – which just shows what a Geography degree can do!”