Royals in Moray: Prince Edward and Sophie visit Fochabers
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Prince Edward and Sophie called in at Fochabers today as part of their visit to Moray.
The Royals were escorted this afternoon to the village's memorial garden, which is besides the cricket pitch.
A special area has been created within the memorial garden to tell the story of Moray's links to the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, which date all the way back to 1956.
Here the Royal couple met a local couple as they presented the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service to the Duke of Edinburgh Award committee.
An estimated 10,000 local youngsters have completed the DoE since Janis Thomson became Moray's first DofE development officer in 1990.
Nowadays Janis is in charge of fundraising, while her husband Derek – a gold DofE award recipient all the way back in 1971 – is the local chairman.
A relaxed Prince, who looked as though he was enjoying himself, also found time to chat with the crowd.
Joking with one group of onlookers, he asked: "Were you just out for a walk when you found the usual route was blocked?"
This year has also seen 5500 local youngsters complete a special one-off award – the Moray Badge.
Four Milne's High students were on hand to receive their Platinum version of the badge from the Royal couple.
One of the youngsters was Kyle Favell (13), who lives in Mosstodloch.
Asked about the Moray Badge, the teenager spoke about how he and other Milne's pupils had helped in the garden as part of their work to obtain it.
In addition, Edward and Sophie presented certificates to volunteers from the Fochabers Folk and Heritage Museum.
Finally a commemorative stone was unveiled to mark the Duke of Edinburgh Awards' Heritage Story.
