Students celebrate Commonwealth in the presence of royalty (From Harrow Times)

Norbury School students join Duke of Edinburgh to celebrate Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey

1:30pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Jaber Mohamed

A group of students were in the presence of royalty when they joined the Duke of Edinburgh at Britain’s largest annual inter-faith gathering.

The five pupils who attend Norbury School in Welldon Crescent were invited to join His Royal Highness Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey to celebrate Commonwealth Day.

They were among 1,000 young people at the event on which launched the 2013 Commonwealth theme ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’.

Norbury School’s five students were chosen because they took part in this year’s Commonwealth essay competition run by the Royal Commonwealth Society and Cambridge University Press.

This year’s competition focused on enterprise and change so the students explored issues such as innovation and creativity in the world around us.

The entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Richard Branson and 'young global leader' Ricken Patel spoke at the occasion.

Soul singer Beverley Knight and indie-rock band The Noisettes also performed to 2,000 guests on Monday March 11.

The crowd included Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, The Rt Hon The Lord Howell of Guilford and Commonwealth High Commissioners.