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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Thomas George

Prince William 'vows to visit Rastafarian HQ' in Moss Side during Buckingham Palace garden party

It's not every day that you hear Prince William and Rastafarian in the same sentence.

But that all changed earlier this month when the Prince of Wales pledged to visit the area while at a party in the lavish gardens of Buckingham Palace. The Royal was invited to 'the Rastafarian HQ' , at Claremont Road, by food bank worker Wendy Simms.

Ms Simms had been invited to the prestigious event to mark the Coronation of King Charles III in recognition of her work with Moss Side-based food bank 'Keeping it real 24/7'.

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While at the event, the 57-year-old, who was accompanied by her son Jessiah McKenzie, 22, said Prince William approached her 'out of the blue'.

"He walked over to me and shook my hand," she said. "I said hi and he shook someone else's hand then came back and had a full blown conversation with me.

"I was like wow. He just picked me out of the crowd, it was not a planned conversation.

"Nobody told me he was going to come and talk to me. He asked if it was the first time I had been to Buckingham Palace and I said 'yeah'.

Wendy Simms and her son, Jessiah McKenzie, at the garden party at Buckingham Palace (Supplied)

"He was really engaging with me and was concerned with the issues I told him about. I said 'how about you come and see us? Come to Moss Side'.

"I invited him to the Rastafarian HQ and he said he would really like to come."

During their two-minute conversation, which was captured on video, Ms Simms told Prince William about the problems facing the area, such as the rising cost of living. She now hopes he will follow up on his promise to visit the area.

"Moss Side has got a cloud over it at the moment," she said. "Since the pandemic, there has been a lot of health issues. Everything is deteriorating.

"I would like to put Moss Side back on the map and show the vibrancy from when I was young."

Wendy Simms outside Buckingham Palace (Supplied)

"I want to show him our beautiful community and what we have been doing. Come and meet the real people on the streets and have that feel and sense of love."

Ms Simms says she also hopes to take Prince William for a traditional Caribbean meal while he is Manchester. The footage of Ms Simms speaking to William has since been uploaded to Keeping it real 24/7's Facebook page.

"Everybody loved it," said Ms Simms. "Is he going to come to Moss Side, that's the question people want to know.

"I said 'of course he is'. I know he is going to come to Moss Side."

Should Prince William stick to his word, he would not be the first member of the Royal Family to visit Moss Side. His father, then Prince Charles, had custard pie thrown in his face as part of a light-hearted prank during a visit to the West Indian Sports & Social Club in December 1983.

A spokesperson for Kensington Palace said they "would always announce any future engagements in the usual way".

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