Royal couple meet First Citizen of Belfast
HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton meet the Lord Mayor, council representatives and charities on a visit to Belfast.
His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales, accompanied by Miss Catherine Middleton, has met the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Patrick Convery, in Belfast City Hall.
The royal couple are being accompanied during their visit in Northern Ireland by Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Following a private meeting with the Lord Mayor and Mr Peter McNaney, Belfast City Council Chief Executive, the royal couple met representatives of Belfast City Council political parties, the City Council’s ‘Good Relations Unit’ and representatives from the Northern Ireland cross-community peace building charity ‘Peace Players International’.
His Royal Highness and Miss Middleton accepted a gift of a framed photograph of City Hall and a book on the architectural history of the one hundred and five year old iconic building. The Lord Mayor also invited them to sign the visitors’ book.
In the marble hallway, His Royal Highness and Miss Middleton had the opportunity to speak to council members and staff.
Outside in the grounds of Belfast’s landmark City Hall, The royal couple met representatives from the ‘Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children’ who were hosting a Shrove Tuesday fund-raising event to benefit local children and their families.
His Royal Highness and Miss Middleton are expected to undertake a number of other engagements later today.
Notes to editor
His Royal Highness and Miss Middleton were greeted at the City Hall by Councillor Patrick Convery, the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Belfast, and went on to meet Mr Peter McNaney, Chief Executive of Belfast City Council.
Dame Mary Peters DBE, Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast, and The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, accompanied His Royal Highness throughout the engagement.