Crowds gather for royal favourite

Smiling faces, young and old, greeted Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra as she visited the county.

The princess toured the £5 million Severn Hospice at Apley in Telford and Coalport China Museum yesterday.

At the hospice, there was a lesson for her on using waffle dust, and a tip from her that chocolate was good for energy.

The royal was in the county to officially open the hospice.

Four years after the tin was first rattled and just weeks after the first in-patients were admitted, the hospice at Apley in Telford was officially opened by the princess, a Shropshire favourite and a regular visitor to the county.

Representatives from all walks of life including the Lord Lieutenant, High Sheriff, MPs and civic leaders gathered at the state-of-the-art building to welcome the royal visitor.

In an unhurried and relaxed visit, she spent as much time as possible with day patients before having a private moment with those in for longer care.

Roger Tanner, from Shifnal, was in the day area where he was learning to make octagonal boxes using waffle dust for the marbling - something which intrigued the Princess.

Wearing rubber gloves dipped in paint, Roger said: "She asked how it was done and I tried to tell her."

Princess Alexandra asked a group of busy stewards whether they had eaten anything and was told they'd had a bacon sandwich for breakfast. She replied: "You need a Kit-Kat, that's what I always have in the car."

She arrived at the hospice looking elegant in a polka dot grey silk dress, pink cropped jacket with a confection of a hat in a dusky pink net.

Her lady-in-waiting was Shropshire's Meriel Afia. Unveiling a plaque to mark the occasion, after being welcomed by hospice chairman Peter Paulson, Princess Alexandra told guests: "I am very touched that you asked me to be with you today and I am very impressed by the Severn Hospice.

"All who come here for treatment will benefit from those extraordinary efforts to raise the money to build it - even people shaving their heads, I understand. I wish you all well for the future."

At Coalport, the princess was greeted by 100 museum trustees, visitors and schoolchildren. She unveiled another plaque, this time to mark the opening of the museum's latest attraction - the Kiln Experience - where visitors can experience what working in a kiln was like through the use of dramatic sound and light.

As the princess unveiled the plaque, at the invitation of Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust president Mike Lowe, eager youngsters ran over to show her their handiwork from a ceramics workshop.

And the princess gratefully accepted one young girl's offering of a handpainted china rose produced just hours earlier in a ceramics workshop.

The princess, whose grandmother Queen Mary also made the same visit back in 1900, was given a whistle-stop tour of the museum gift shop and various workshops.