The Warwick Academy students who were in the cast of their recent musical ‘Hairspray’ were very excited to be invited to the Berkeley Institute in March to perform a short excerpt of the performance in front of the visiting Earl and Countess of Wessex. The musical had been a success, with brilliant reviews from the paper and a full house every night.The buzz from the original performances had slowly been quietening down among the students, who were just beginning to get their full night’s sleep again and being able to wake up in the morning to a head full of hair that wasn’t matted with hairspray. It was a Thursday morning when the cast were called to attend a meeting in the drama studio by their drama teacher, Mr Jones. Curiosity was thick in the air as we all wondered about possible reasons for this strange meeting being held almost a month after the play. It wasn’t until our principal, Mrs McCorkell, stood up and cleared her throat to speak that we realised it must be something serious. What had happened? Had something gone terribly wrong? But we were all put at ease when she spoke to us in a light tone, speaking about how much the Governor had enjoyed the performance and began to explain the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he had offered us: a chance to perform for His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex! We were ecstatic!The buzz was turned up full power and we all began to discuss the event: What costumes would we wear? Which part of the musical would we perform? How long did we have to prepare? The date was set at March 17 and it was decided to perform the song ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ sung beautifully by Shana Parker and backed up by the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, not everyone could perform as we were given a limit of 25 students on stage, but those who still wanted to come along were allowed to sit in the audience of the Berkeley auditorium to support the others.Rehearsals began immediately without a moment to spare.The day of March 17 arrived surprisingly quickly; time seemed to fly by as all the adjustments were made. The singers only rehearsed a few times on stage before scurrying behind the curtains to clear the way for the Prince. All ran smoothly with the Berkeley students giving some excellent performances including a beautiful dance piece and a delightful piano solo.Too soon it was Warwick Academy’s turn and the small band played the opening chords. The audience exploded into a cacophony of clapping as soon as the song was finished and my heart swelled with pride at how fantastically it had gone. The cast had really done their best and I quickly glanced down at the Prince and was relieved to see he was smiling along with the rest of them. Our performance marked the culmination of the presentation and all of the performers returned to the stage to meet the Prince.I think all of us were surprised at how ordinary he was, with a good sense of humour and a genuine love for the performing arts. He gave a short and sweet speech thanking everyone and then he unveiled a plaque commemorating his visit to the school. The Warwick students were all beaming with gratitude for the opportunity to be involved in the Berkeley event and anyone could see that all the students from both Warwick and Berkeley - couldn’t have been more proud of their performances.The whole thing was finished as quickly as it had started as the Prince and his wife gave everyone a final goodbye and left, followed by the rest of the audience, leaving just the performers. The huge auditorium seemed strangely hollow without the crowd of Berkeley students and invited guests. Congratulations were given and then we were off, going our separate ways and leaving the school behind. But none of us will ever forget it; meeting Royalty is not an experience that the average Bermudian schoolchild can claim.