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News

The Duchess spends a day in East Sussex

25th May 2006

The Duchess of Cornwall headed to the seaside for a day of solo engagements in East Sussex today.

For her first stop of the day, Her Royal Highness visited an iconic art deco pavilion to lay a plaque on the foundations of its new Education Centre.

The centre will be the final phase of the famous De La Warr Pavilion on the seafront of Bexhill-on-Sea.

The Duchess was greeted by Dr Richard Sykes, chairman of the De La Warr Pavilion Trust, before being presented to the Earl and Countess De La Warr and Jill Theis, founder of the original Pavilion Trust.

After being greeted by flag-waving children and the Battle Tour Band, The Duchess gratefully accepted a posy from 10-year-old Alice McKenna before taking a tour of the building, which included contemporary exhibitions and a dance workshop.

During the tour of the Pavilion she perched herself on children's chairs beside youngsters from St Peter & St Paul's School in Bexhill as they made patterns with paints.

The Duchess then met representatives from the Pavilion's community, including 96-year-old George Korner, a cousin of Serge Chermayeff, one of the De La Warr Pavilion's original architects, and John Izzard, the father of comedian Eddie, who grew up in Bexhill.

John Izzard offered his apologies to The Duchess for his son's absence today, telling her he is currently working in Cannes.

Mr Izzard, who joined the celebrations when the De La Warr opened in 1935, said: “I've met her husband before at a Prince's Trust concert at Wembley Arena and she's a very kind lady.

“Eddie would have been here if he could have made it but unfortunately he is in Cannes, but I know he really would have loved it today.”

The De La Warr has attracted 50,000 visits a month since reopening in October last year following its refurbishment.

Afterwards, The Duchess officially opened the new gates outside the Anne of Cleves House in Lewes, East Sussex.

The Anne of Cleves House formed part of Anne's divorce settlement from Henry VIII in 1541. The house contains wide-ranging collections of Sussex interest, including Sussex pottery, and the bedroom and kitchen are furnished to reflect an earlier period.

The Duchess toured the house meeting volunteers and children and was presented with a posy from nine-year-old Frances Livesey at the entrance to the house.

The Duchess then went upstairs to meet children from Southover Church of England Primary School who were dressed in Tudor costumes and told them she admired their smart outfits.

The Duchess also officially opened The Ark, a new arts and science centre at St Pancras School, Lewes.

The Ark is a new environmentally friendly science and art centre, made using sustainable local materials, such as coppice chestnut, lamb's wool insulation and wooden shingles from the Duchy of Cornwall estate.

The Duchess spoke to children aged between six and eight in their classrooms as they built toys and glued colourful shapes of card on to pages.

She then joined children in the science and art centre, known as The Ark, as they were icing animal-shaped biscuits.

All 107 schoolchildren later gathered in the hall to sing The Duchess two songs about Noah and their love for their school.

The Duchess smiled and patted her knees in time as she listened to the children before unveiling the plaque to applause.

She told them: “Thank you for a beautiful afternoon. I have been impressed with it all. If you ask me back again, I'll certainly come back.”

The Duchess was presented with some gifts from the school, including a book featuring self-portraits of the children, before visiting the Museum in Ditchling.

The permanent exhibition at the museum included a school photo of The Duchess, who attended Dumbrells School in Ditchling as a child.

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