William and Kate mark their 15th wedding anniversary with surprise charity visit

The Prince and Princess of Wales have IntoUniversity, an education charity which benefitted from Their Royal Highnesses’ Royal Wedding Gift Fund in 2011, to mark their crystal anniversary

The Prince and Princess of Wales are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary today(Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

To celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary, Prince William and Princess Kate have visited IntoUniversity, an education charity which benefitted from Their Royal Highnesses’ Royal Wedding Gift Fund in 2011. The Prince and Princess of Wales joined a group of Year 5 students from Victory Primary School at the charity’s Walworth site, as the children were taking part in one of the charity’s programmes of free immersive educational activities and workshops.

IntoUniversity, a charity which aims to help young people facing disadvantage achieve their full potential, was chosen as one of the 26 charities to benefit from Their Royal Highnesses’ Royal Wedding Gift Fund in 2011, providing donations at a pivotal moment in the charity’s development.

William and Kate have paid a visit to the IntoUniversity charity on their anniversary(Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

The Gift Fund was set up so that anyone who wished to give Their Royal Highnesses a wedding gift could instead donate to their chosen charities in celebration of their wedding. It ultimately raised over £1 million for causes close to Their Royal Highnesses’ hearts.

Today, William and Kate joined the children for their workshop, which supports students’ aspirations, attainment and development of key skills that promote success at school and beyond.

These ‘FOCUS Days’ are designed to introduce students to university life and inspire interest in future study, with the specific lesson today covering an exploration of Astronomy, team-based challenges and a creative design task focused on living in space.

Rachel Carr, Chief Executive and Co-Founder at IntoUniversity said of William and Kate’s visit: “Fifteen years ago, Their Royal Highnesses’ Royal Wedding Gift Fund provided generous support at a crucial moment for IntoUniversity. It not only helped us to continue our work, but also gave us the confidence to grow.

The Prince and Princess of Wales joined a group of Year 5 students for their workshop(Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

“Today, we are supporting tens of thousands of young people across the UK each year, and it was a privilege to share a part of that work with Their Royal Highnesses in person. We remain deeply grateful for the support of the Royal Wedding Gift Fund which has had a lasting impact on so many lives, and to Their Royal Highnesses for visiting IntoUniversity Walworth. It was a truly memorable day for our young people and the charity, one we will be talking about for years to come.”

After their visit, reliable royal sources claim that the Prince and Princess of Wales went for lunch at The Goring in London, where Kate stayed the night before the wedding in 2011.

The royal couple marked their anniversary earlier today with a sweet post to their social media. To mark 15 years of marriage, William and Kate shared a brand new holiday snapshot of them and their children.

 

William and Kate marked their anniversary with a new family photo(Image: princeandprincessofwales/Instagram)

It shows them lying in the grass barefoot alongside their pet dogs with the never-before-seen snap taken by photographer Matt Porteous during their family holiday to Cornwall over Easter. It is captioned: “Celebrating 15 years of marriage” with a heart emoji.

In the image, Louis has his legs resting on Kate as the family of five – all in shorts apart from Kate – lie shoulder to shoulder in a row, with their black cocker spaniel Orla making an appearance next to William.

The couple first met more than 20 years ago at the University of St Andrews in Fife and became friends before embarking on a romance. After marrying at Westminster Abbey on April 29 2011, they kissed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to the delight of the crowds.