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British RoyalsThe Kents

Princess Alexandra meets Telford community heroes

Princess Alexandra may be a regular visitor to Shropshire, but her inhabitants were no less delighted to see her again. Even the rain did not stop people from coming to see her.

The Royal Family/Twitter

She came with her lady-in-waiting, Meriel Afia, who lives in the country. Princess Alexandra toured the Maws Crafts near Ironbridge before heading through the tree-lined valley for Coalbrookdale and the restored Museum of Iron.

At the Maws Centre Craft Village Princess Alexandra met the Telford Community Award winners. She was greeted by the Lord Lieutenant, Anna Turner, Nicola Kershaw, deputy lieutenant of Shropshire, and met several dignitaries including Mayor Stephen Reynolds. Princess Alexandra presented Group 1 Community Award winners with personalised certificates. One of the winners, 15-year-old Jessica Terry, told the Shropshire Star: “The Princess said congratulations and thinks what I did was amazing. She wanted to meet my mum. She must have read about me.” Jessica won the outstanding volunteer under 18 award and is credited with saving the lives of her mother Julia after she had a stroke and her 13-year-old sister Megan when she suffered anaphylactic shock. Princess Alexandra also presented certificates to Group 2 Community Award winners and the Leader and Cabinet Awards before taking a group photo with all the winners.

The Royal Family/Twitter

At the museum, Sir Algernon Heber-Percy, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, was presented to her by the Lord Lieutenant. Sir Algernon is no stranger to Princess Alexandra, and they have met many times before. They were then joined by the Hon Jane Heber-Percy, Gaye Blake Roberts chairman of Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, and Gillian Crumpton, the Trust’s Director of Collections and Learning who shared their parts of the story.

After taking tea, Princess Alexandra went into the kitchen to thank everyone behind the scenes and to tell them the tea was enjoyable.