Prince Williams rewards helpful students

Britain’s Prince William honoured two young students for contributions to their local community.

Wiltshire teenagers Craig Pearce and Tom Thorpe, both 15, met the 31-year-old royal in London earlier this month as a reward for helping rejuvenate a local youth center.

Craig said: ”It was a great experience, and something I will remember for a long time.”

As well as meeting the prince at a gala held at the London Stock Exchange, the boys met comedian Jimmy Carr and rock star Rod Stewart.

Tom beamed: ”The prince congratulated us and he asked how I was enjoying the programme. My mum was probably more proud than me. She was excited to say I had met the future king but I was more excited to have met Jimmy Carr.”

The schoolboys were selected to meet the prince out of a large group of volunteers and Tom says the rejuvenation of the Bradford upon Avon Youth Centre was a team effort.

He told the Wiltshire Times newspaper: ”We had to fix up a youth centre which was falling apart. I thought we would all win, but when I came back after the summer holidays an email came back saying I had won it. My friends were a little annoyed, but mostly proud, but I knew it was a group effort.”