PRINCE WILLIAM is expected to join 1,300 other first year students attending Freshers’ Week at St Andrews University tomorrow.
The Prince, who will study the history of art, will meet fellow undergraduates and sign up for some of the university’s diverse clubs and societies.
Buckingham Palace has made clear that the Prince expects to be treated like any other student. He will discover that St Andrews, founded in 1411, lives up to its reputation as the university for affluent students who like to party. More than two thirds of St Andrews’ students attended public school. The Prince of Wales will accompany his elder son on his first day at St Andrews. They are expected to pose for photographs before Prince William is taken to see the room which will be his home for the next year. He will live in a co-ed hall of residence, believed to be St Salvator’s, a rambling Gothic building which has much character but little heating.
Prince William will be protected by students, staff and residents from media intrusion. Students have been warned they face expulsion if they give information to the press. Areas on campus declared off-limits to journalists include the library, churches, halls of residence and the student union.
~*~
Yorks pay tribute at embassy
By Richard Eden
THE Duke and Duchess of York were among thousands of people who visited the American embassy in London yesterday to pay their respects to the victims of the terrorist attacks.
The Duchess, who had been due to visit the World Trade Centre in New York on the day it was hit, arrived with the Duke and their daughters, Beatrice, 13, and Eugenie, 11, at Grosvenor Square, Mayfair. They were accompanied by the American Ambassador, William Farish, and his wife, Sarah.
The Duke and Duchess signed the book of condolence and then laid bouquets at the Roosevelt Memorial. Asked if she had a message, the Duchess, who was close to tears, replied: "I don't have enough words."
The Duchess was in New York last week but had not set off for the World Trade Centre by the time the two planes struck the towers. She has since started a charity to counsel children affected by the disaster. The 911 Fund comes as an offshoot of her Chances for Children charity in America.
Chances for Children had been given space on the 101st floor of the north tower by the bond trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Although the company lost hundreds of employees in the attacks, none of the charity's staff was reported missing.
The Duke was also on his way to America when the terrorists struck. His British Airways plane made a U-turn over the Atlantic and returned to Gatwick as panic swept America and all airports were closed.
The Duke and Duchess each left a posy of roses tied with a tartan ribbon at the memorial. "Be brave everyone," said the handwritten note on Beatrice's card. Her mother's said: "Thank you to all our friends at Cantor Fitzgerald and to all the victims of the September 11 disaster. Our love and deepest sympathy."
A growing mound of floral tributes was left around the memorial. Officials said they expected the number of people visiting the embassy yesterday to exceed the 5,800 who did so on Saturday.
Three generations of one British family were overcome with grief as they laid a bouquet attached to a photograph of a relative killed in the attack. Andrew Baker consoled his wife, Suzanne, their sons, William and Henry, and his parents as they looked at the photograph of his niece's husband, Jonathan Uman, smiling as he held his 18-month-old son beneath an American flag.
Mr Uman, 34, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, was on the 102nd floor of the trade centre's north tower when it was struck. "It has been a very emotional day for us and we have just tried to comfort each other," said Mr Baker.
"We are travelling to America this week for a celebration of Jonathan's life. He lived his life to the full and was much loved by everyone who knew him."
American mourners said they had felt drawn to express their grief with each other. "I simply had to come here," said Mary Robson, from Dallas, Texas. "You feel so far from home when something like this happens and I needed to be with my countrymen."
To September News
To News Archive