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Royal visits to BSGD
Well worth the wait!
The new Bolton School Foundation had been in existence for nearly eighty years before it received a Royal Visit but the wait was well worthwhile. It may have been a miserable day on 20 October 1993 but the weather was not a priority in the girls’ minds because it was the day when Her Royal Highness Diana, Princess of Wales, would visit the School to officially open the new Arts Centre. Kathryn West wrote that “near hysteria ruled the corridors when the policemen arrived to take up their posts.” Wearing a pink and navy two piece suit, the Princess was greeted by Lord Haslam and introduced to both the Headmistress and the Headmaster. Lord Haslam said that her presence had transformed a pleasant occasion into a “splendid and memorable” one. Inside the Arts Centre she was entertained by a short performance, by pupils of both Divisions, entitled ‘The Lancashire Grocer and his Bars of Gold’. This told the story of William Hesketh Lever, the first Lord Leverhulme, who had founded the new Bolton School in 1915.
After declaring the Arts Centre officially open by unveiling a commemorative plaque, Princess Diana was presented with a watercolour painting by the Head Girl, Tara Mani and the School Captain, David Mohyuddin. In the Language Centre she was introduced to Japanese student, Mutsumi Ito, who was wearing full traditional dress. Mutsumi was spending six months at School on an exchange programme and teaching Japanese to sixth formers. Before she left, Princess Diana watched as students Richard Chant, James Emerson and Charlotte Young abseiled down the clock tower; and she was greatly amused and delighted when Richard presented her with a box of ‘Milk Tray’ chocolates.
Seven years later, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester visited School on the afternoon of Tuesday 27th June 2000. The visit coincided with Sports Day and the Duchess, who was President of the Lawn Tennis Association, had expressed an interest in seeing some of the afternoon’s events. In recognition of this, the official programme included two tennis games, as well as a 100m sprint by some Year 10 athletes. After being presented with a copy of the Girls’ Division Millennium Book, “So Goodly a Heritage”, the official party, led by Head Girl, Tina Ninan and School Captain, James Brodie, made its way through the Girls’ Division Great Hall and, via the Careers’ Room, into the Boys’ Division, where the official opening of their new Sixth Form Centre took place. After tea, the final item on the programme was an invitation by the School Captain and Head Girl to break a new joint flag, which combined the crests of both Divisions and symbolised the strong progress of the school as it moved into the new century. She described Bolton School as being ‘a delightful place.’
