Meeting Prince Charles.

Just before Christmas I received an invite from the Highgrove Estate to a special Christmas event they were holding for their staff and suppliers. I was told HRH The Prince of Wales was attending to meet and greet his staff of the Estate and the Highgrove shops.

Highgrove Pop-up shop, Cribbs Causeway, Bristol.

I was one of 5 suppliers who had been invited, as last year I had designed 6 greeting cards and tree decorations for Highgrove.

My greeting cards displayed in the Highgrove Shop.

Product shot, courtesy of Highgrove.

The 'Three French Hens' decoration hanging on my Christmas tree.

On the 22nd December, on a very stormy night, myself and my partner arrived at Highgrove and spent the evening enjoying good company and plenty of refreshments!

Photo courtesy of Paul Burns Photography.

Prince Charles must have greeted about 200 guests and was keen to speak to everyone. He was especially pleased to hear how I had created my designs and to know that I had in fact started my business through the Prince's Trust's Business Enterprise programme. It was one of life's surreal moments.

Photo courtesy of Paul Burns Photography.

Prince Charles certainly showed his good sense of humour, his address to the guests at the end of the evening got the crowd laughing. He was very thankful for everybody's hard work last year to achieve fantastic profits for his charities and thanking the suppliers for our work. I was told that my cards and decorations had sold incredibly well which was wonderful to hear. Great feedback for my designs couldn't get much better than that!

As the Prince left the event a pianist treated us to the 12 Days of Christmas on a grand piano in a very festive way to end the night. I really hope I have the opportunity to work with Highgrove again this year, their support for my work has been amazing.