Britain’s Prince Edward launched the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Diamond Challenge at Heathrow airport yesterday (01.03.16).
The 51-year-old royal – who is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip – rocked up at the busy airport in London to celebrate the launch as 100 workers abseiled down the inside of Terminal 5 from departures to arrivals.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said: "It was an honour to host HRH The Earl of Wessex at Terminal 5 to launch our DofE Diamond Challenge activities. We are proud to support The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, because it helps young people to fulfil their potential. This year we are encouraging people of all ages from across the Heathrow community to do the same by taking part in a Diamond Challenge."
The Diamond Challenge marks the charity’s 60th anniversary of the gold, silver and bronze youth achievement award, which was founded by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1956.
But the royal’s duties didn’t just stop at watching daring workers abseil down a building as he also met with 20 youngster from Heathrow who have completed the Gold DofE award scheme, which has been offered to airport employees under the age of 25 since 2012.
The Prince was also given his own FITBIT – a fitness tracker – and was challenged to cover the distance to Manchester, where the next leg of his Royal Diamond Tour will take him.
Prince Edward launches Duke of Edinburgh Diamond Challenge
