Prince Edward meets DoE gold winners including three generations of one family

The Earl of Wessex congratulated around 2,000 Duke of Edinburgh gold award winners at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Friday – including one who had been sent down a coal mine as part of her expedition.

Also known as the Earl of Forfar in Scotland, Prince Edward has taken on much of the responsibility for the awards since his father, the Duke of Edinburgh passed away last year.

Meeting dozens of winners, the earl said he would love to hear “each and every one” of their stories but it would take “rather a long time”.

Attendees heard from gold award winner Brodie Robertson who said the award scheme had improved his confidence.

He said: “I started off quite shy in school. DofE meant I could make friends with like-minded people and it also developed my confidence and communication.”

The Earl also met three generations of the Shaw family who had all been awarded the gold award which is a rare occurrence.

Elspeth, 76, from Nairn, Kirsty, 52, and Jennifer, 20, from the Isle of Skye, completed their awards in 1963, 1988 and 2019 respectively.

As part of her expedition, Elspeth Shaw told how she was sent down a coal mine to achieve the award.

She said: “Probably my most outstanding memory was we cycled out to Midlothian and went down a coal mine.

“Getting down a coal mine was quite a rare occurrence because they didn’t readily take youngsters. I wouldn’t have seen one otherwise.”

Prince Edward also met pupils from the Isobel Mair School for children with additional support needs in East Renfrewshire which he had opened a decade previously.

The young people were some of the first children in the area with additional support needs to complete the gold award, an achievement their parents are “incredibly proud” of.

Friday’s awards celebration brought to an end Royal Week in Scotland which saw the Queen, 96, make three public engagements, despite scaling these back as a result of mobility issues.