A recent visit from the Prince of Wales to the Leicestershire Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre has the conservationist in hot air rather than hot water.
It has emerged that Prince Charles took a selection of hand towels to his official engagement so that he would not need to use the hot-air hand dryers on offer. Aides called ahead to request that a section of the loo be cordoned off and supplied the heritage centre with freshly laundered, royally approved towels.
A source said of the royal request: ‘There was a real buzz about Prince Charles’s visit and staff wanted it to be perfect. They were more than happy to make one of the toilets for his exclusive use only and for his own hand towels to be used.’
The eco-conscious royal may have supplied the towels because he was familiar with the studies that show that hand dryers harbor germs which, in turn, are distributed into the atmosphere upon use. It’s also possible that the aversion comes from the fact that hot-air hand dryers generate more carbon emissions.
The visit was the final stop on Prince Charles’s tour of Leicestershire County, and he arrived in style wearing overalls and standing atop the footplate of a steam train. He was greeted by more than 800 local schoolchildren and volunteers, and he stopped to say hello to many of the people who had been waiting in anticipation of his arrival.
George Lees, of Mountsorrel, was thrilled to meet the Prince saying: “He shook my hand! He really shook my hand! He asked me if I liked my school, and I said yes.’
Ahead of the visit a spokesman for the centre said: ‘Our community volunteers have worked so hard over the past nine years to restore the railway and build the heritage centre . We are hugely honoured that Prince Charles would want to come and see the project, and our volunteers very much look forward to showing him around.’
Inside the centre, Prince Charles unveiled a plaque to officially open the centre and was given a tour by local volunteers including chairman of Rothley Heritage Trust, Terry Sheppard, who joked to the visiting royal that ‘many of the centre’s visitors came mainly for the bacon baps.’
