His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales paid a visit to Cambridge today (23/11) to open the new Discovery Centre science laboratory on the Biomedical Campus.

The Discovery Centre is a new research and development facility for pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and will employ more than 2,000 people.

On arrival, he was welcomed by dignitaries including Councillor Russ McPherson, the Mayor of Cambridge, and the bells of Great St Mary’s were rung in his honour.

In a press release, Cllr McPherson described it as “an honour to welcome His Royal Highness to Cambridge. Our city has strong connections with the Royal Family – something that means a great deal to many of our residents.”

His Royal Highness’ visit was accompanied by a significantly increased police presence in the city.

Prince Charles visited central Cambridge’s Market Square, where he was introduced to market traders by Cambridge’s Executive Councillor for Climate Change, Environment and City Centre, Rosy Moore.

Cllr Moore said: “It was a pleasure to welcome His Royal Highness, who has been an advocate for acting on climate change for years, to the market so that he could meet some of the traders who have worked so hard in difficult circumstances over the past two years.

“We have exciting plans to secure significant investment to continue to improve the offer of our market and market square to both residents and visitors; and will continue to work closely with traders, shoppers and the wider community over the coming months and years to take these plans forward.”

The visit was arranged through the Cambridgeshire Lieutenancy Office.

Prince Charles also visited Homerton College at the invitation of the Principal, Lord Simon Woolley.

There, he attended a discussion on the Black student experience and met representatives of the Homerton Changemakers programme.

Prince Charles attended Cambridge University from 1967 to 1970, where he studied archaeology, anthropology and history at Trinity College.