A special event after leaving Fulmer
By the late 1970s, The Engineering Council, Government Departments, Universities and other major organisations had recognised the national need to promote the education of young people with a particular emphasis on technical and scientific subjects.
The Fulmer Research Institute, whose work centred around these subjects, took the initiative to see how the Education System could introduce the elements of these subjects into schools. This would need changes to the subjects and teaching styles taught in schools, enhanced through working with companies.
The Department of Industry, which had set up their own Industry Education Department, became aware of Fulmer’s work with schools. These fitted into the initiatives they would encourage and they funded a pilot project to develop our work.. The results were well received and we moved to the next phase when a management committee was jointly chaired by the Heads of Education from Bucks and Berks. The other committee members were headteachers, representatives of local engineering companies and a member of the newly established Education Department of the Department of Trade and Industry.
During the initial phase different types of schools from the two Counties were selected and a technical programme was carried out in the schools which linked with industry. The revised National Curriculum had one new subject called Design and Technology – this included many of the principles found in engineering subjects. Here was a first class opportunity for The Engineering Council, the Department of Industry and companies (including Rolls Royce) to fund an Annual Competition for schools called the Young Engineer for Britain.
The Competition was staged at the Wembley Conference Centre and administered by The Engineering Council. Traditionally the Guest of Honour was Prince Charles.
In 1986, on the day before the Finals, a group of us were closely involved helping the 30 or so Finalists from around the country to set up their projects, welcoming the Teams from the schools and explaining the timetable for the following day. Having completed the preparations for the next day, we gathered together for Dinner and had a chance to compare notes.
On the way to the Dinner, the Chairman of the Management team took me on one side and said he was going to ask me for a favour. Would I be prepared to meet the Guest of Honour in the morning, to explain what would be happening during their visit to the competition? He thought I was the person for the job and the meeting would be casual and friendly.
The Chairman finally said that I should not discuss this matter with anyone. I did of course feel honoured and said nothing at the Dinner that evening.
The next morning I put on my suit and tie ready to meet the Guest of Honour. Although I was not told who the person was, I assumed it to be the Prince of Wales – now King Charles III.
I arrived at the Reception Desk at precisely 11.00 am and immediately had my identity checked by two plain clothed police officers. We moved through a series of winding corridors where two more police officers with dogs joined us. Suddenly we stopped and I was told to wait outside while the police dogs checked the room.
I was invited into a small cosy room with a tray of coffee and biscuits ready to meet the Guest of Honour. The door opened and in came – Princess Diana, followed by her Lady in Waiting. Everything was going so fast and the Princess had not even been in my wildest thoughts a minute before. I have never ever been quite so overwhelmed.
The Princess headed towards me and we exchanged some pleasantries. Then her Lady in Waiting offered us a cup of coffee and still in some confusion I dropped my coffee spoon. Diana immediately bent down and gave it back to me with a smile. This small kind gesture changed the relationship between us and my tension quickly eased.
Many pictures in the papers show Princess Diana to be a shy person unable to look you in the eye. But this was not my experience. In her daily life, she was surrounded by the great and the good, which may have had the effect of making her feel less confident.
Diana could see that I was not part of that set and in a short while we were chatting like ordinary folk. My first task was to tell her about the Young Engineers Competition and that in a little while, as the Guest of Honour, the doors to the hall would open and she would be invited to meet and chat to the young people about their inventions in an encouraging way.
By now I had recovered my composure and noticed that Diana was wearing a slim black skirt with a separate top and black patent shoes. Her whole appearance was one of elegance.
We continued discussing the forthcoming tour of the Young Engineers projects and that the Guest of honour would traditionally stop to look at the Winning Entry – a muscle-stretching machine as described in this review of the Engineering Council at the time – and then move through the other competitors for about half an hour.
I took a deep breath before explaining that she would be invited to try out the design of the overall Winner. The invention involved sitting on the seat, rather like a rowing boat. The purpose of the machine was to strengthen the leg muscles by moving the legs apart when you pull back on the oars. There was a slight hesitation before the Princess explained this would not be possible wearing her tight black skirt!
The embarrassment was soon dealt with and the Princess became a joy to talk to and we even discussed the new Sylvester Stallone film.
The time came for the Princess to move into the Main Hall and as the doors opened there was an intense noise and a blinding flash of photographers. Although the Princess was known to hate this interest in her, she expected this reaction from the press photographers, not just at this type of event but even from long range telescopic cameras when she was “off duty”.
I remember going home and saying to my family ‘Any person being treated in this outrageous way should be allowed periods of complete privacy’.
By the end of this intensive session the photographers had taken sufficient pictures to demonstrate all her emotions from excitement through to boredom.
The Princess moved onto the stage where she gave the talk that most people would have expected from the Prince. Although the engineering theme was not her subject, she read the speech admirably, with clarity and interest. 
One would have thought the Princess would have been totally exhausted by this event but she left the hall with a bunch of flowers and a gentle smile.
I was very impressed by all aspects of her behaviour and assumed that she would go home for a long rest. Not at all – in fact Diana went straight on to a Hospital Research Department to launch a new piece of equipment.
A message was put around that the Young Engineer Competition was to be on the BBC 6 o’clock TV News that evening. I immediately rang home to tell my family to watch the TV News and that I hoped to be home in time to join them.
At the end of the bleeps the TV News began but it was not exactly what I had anticipated. This was the day when the Princess had changed her hair style. Most of the allocated TV time was used to discuss her hair styles from childhood to the present day and I had failed to notice her new shorter style.
This change in her way of life was significant and only, when the whole story came out much later, was this the day she deliberately chose to start her new life. In fact it was a deliberate statement after a period of intense depression, when she decided to make radical changes to her way of life. This was manifested by engaging in working with people from all social classes, including Aids victims through to soldiers injured by landmines.
These changes, with which we are now all familiar, tragically ended with her death in a car accident in Paris.
Our lasting image of this time is of her two young sons following her coffin down the Mall. I look back with sadness at the life of Princess Diana and the short time I spent with her.
March 2023
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