The Prince of Wales visited the Francis Crick Institute in London.
The Prince of Wales was told there was a job going after he was praised for how he handled a mouse sample during a visit to a biomedical research centre.
William spent Wednesday morning at the Francis Crick Institute, a leading biomedicine research centre in King’s Cross, central London, meeting brain researchers and A-level biology students ahead of the centre’s 10-year anniversary later this year.
After he was cheered on arrival by crowds of staff standing on the building’s many balconies, the prince, wearing a white laboratory coat, was given a tour of the institute’s electron microscopy facility which is used to study cells at the atomic level.
He was then shown how to prepare a mouse kidney cell sample to observe through a microscope by senior research scientist Dumisile Lumkwana and deputy lead of the facility Pippa Hawes.
As he was given explanations on how to prepare the sample, the prince joked: “Please don’t tell me this is like a really serious research project you’re doing.”
He added: “I’m not responsible for messing this one up.”
The institute’s chief executive Edith Heard, who was observing the prince handling the sample, told him he was “doing a great job”, adding: “We’re hiring.”
The prince then met two scientists who use the electron microscopy technology to understand how tuberculosis bacteria (TB), which claims millions of lives each year, beats the human body’s defences and survives inside human cells.
When shown a zoomed-in sample on a screen by the two scientists, William joked “it looks like the moon to me”.
During the visit, William also heard from neuroscientists Katharina Schmack and Andreas Schaefer, who study how the human body uses its senses and processes smells, about the biological mechanisms behind mental health conditions.
William was also welcomed by a class of A-level biology students from the local William Ellis School taking part in a genetic engineering workshop, to understand how what they learn in the classroom can be used in practice in laboratories.
The 17 and 18-year-olds were told a “VIP” would be visiting on Wednesday, and were only informed it was the Prince of Wales just before his arrival at the research centre.
The royal family is facing a turbulent time with the arrest of William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
William, at the Bafta awards on Sunday, revealed he needed to be in a “calm state” to watch the big screen adaptation of Hamnet, adding: “I’m not at the moment.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales were said to have supported the King’s statement after the monarch insisted in the wake of Andrew’s arrest that “the law must take its course” as he expressed his “deepest concern” over the allegations surrounding his disgraced brother.
Founded in 2015, the Francis Crick Institute brings together 1,500 scientists and staff to study the biology underlying health and disease, to understand how diseases develop and how illnesses such as cancer and heart disease can be prevented, diagnosed and treated.
The research centre’s achievements include identifying the genetic cause of inflammatory bowel disease and discovering the biological link between air pollution and lung cancer in non-smoking people.
Leaving the institute, William signed a book and was given three gift bags with science books as well as a paperweight by Sir Paul Nurse, honorary life president and principal group leader of the institute.
