The Duke of Edinburgh visited St Catherine’s college last Friday to officially open the new buildings. On his tour, The Duke met groups of students and staff as well as alumni and those who had contributed to the construction project.On his tour, the Duke arrived, accompanied by the Master of the College, at the bedroom planned for him to visit, which had been cleaned a painted for theoccasion. The door was found to be locked, forcing the company to take a detour to a neighbouring room belonging to Faizal Patel.Patel told Cherwell “My room was messy and it smelt of smoke from a shisha session from the night before. The Duke asked me where I’m from and what I do. He was very friendly and laid back.” He continued, “He then looked at my shisha pipe and asked, ’I hope you’re not involved in this sort of activity, are you?’ I think he thought it was some sort of bong so replied, ’Na, don’t worry, it’s not for weed: it’s shisha, an Arab flavoured smoking tradition.’ One of the Duke’s entourage said, ’Oh yes, I believe they call it hubbly-bubbly?’ to which I answered in the affirmative.“The Duke, then said to the Master, ’So, you allow students to do this sort of
thing?’ and the Master responded with, ’I guess we’ll have to take his word he
uses it for what he says he does.’” Patel said of his encounter with royalty, “The Duke was pretty cool. It was a pretty funny situation. My biggest regret is that didn’t offer him a toke of the shisha!”Professor Roger Ainsworth, Master of Catz said, "it was a great pleasure to have our visitor His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh come to open our new buildings." JCR president, David Craddock, said “The Duke was on good form, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. He was quick, witty and direct, and appreciated those who responded in the same fashion.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005
Duke quizzes his host about suspected bong in the bedroom
