Barry Island hosts a surprise Royal Visit

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid a special visit to Barry Island on Wednesday 5 August, on their first official joint engagement since the start of lockdown.

It takes an incredible amount of work to plan a Royal Visit, particularly in secret so as not to attract crowds due to the current climate, but the logistical challenge was made to look easy by our very capable and experienced events officer, Sarah Jones.

Sarah quietly went about arranging security for the day as well as contacting some of the business owners on Barry Island with whom the Duke and Duchess wanted to chat about the effect of Covid-19 on the tourism industry. Sarah had just over two weeks to make all of the neccessary arrangements, working closely with Kensington Palace throughout.

The Duke and Duchess first visited the amusement arcade under the Western Shelter, made famous by Gavin and Stacey's Nessa, before taking a quick trip to Marcos Cafe.

When they arrived at the Eastern Shelter to hear about the Council's £6million regeneration project, Rob Thomas, Nia Hollins and Marcus Goldsworthy were there to greet them. 

Rob then introduced them to the owners of Bay 5 coffee before showing them the now iconic beach huts. 

Speaking of the visit Rob Thomas, Managing Director, said:

"The visit of the Duke and Duchess to Barry Island was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the resort on the world stage. We had to keep things as quiet as possible so as not to attract large crowds to the resort. Since the news was shared, however, it has brought some very positive press and media coverage to Barry Island, which is always welcome.

"I'd like to thank Sarah for her work in coordinating all of the elements of the visit and representing the Council exceptionally well when dealing with Kensington Palace and all of the traders on Barry Island. Praise should be given, too, to all of our front line staff working at the Island who worked tirelessly to make the resort look as good as it always does. Da iawn."

On the subject of media coverage, the Beach Huts even featured on the Duke and Duchesses official Instagram account, see the video below for a snapshot of their day.