Leicester Market was honoured to play host to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall during the Royal Visit to the county on Tuesday 11 February 2020.
Their Royal Highnesses were in attendance at Leicester’s historic market to officially unveil the new market square under its new name, Green Dragon Square.
With shoppers crowding Leicester Market to welcome the Royal party, Their Royal Highnesses preluded the unveiling of Green Dragon Square with a tour of the market, meeting some of our long-serving traders to find out more about their stalls and history of trading at the market.
Upon arrival on a bitterly cold day, Their Royal Highnesses were welcomed with coffee brewed by Geoff Rossa of Café Bocca. Geoff’s grandfather arrived in Leicester from central Italy in 1896 and soon started working at Leicester Market with an ice cream barrow. Six years later, in 1902, Geoff’s grandfather and his family set up a permanent kiosk on the edge of Leicester Market on Cheapside before, in 1970, the family started a café on the top floor of the old indoor market. It was in 2002 that Geoff moved to the current location of Café Bocca, on the corner of Market Place South.
Thereafter, The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall met the inspirational Rachel Harris (right), whose has been trading fruit and veg at Leicester Market since 1980. Before that, Rachel’s father – who moved to Leicester from Birmingham in the 1970s – owned a fruit and veg stall in Highfields. It was in 2000 that Rachel took the stall over.
Their Royal Highnesses later visited Jason Le Preaux (bottom), who is a third generation trader at Leicester Market. Jason’s grandfather, Charles, arrived in Leicester from Lille, France, in 1964 and started trading at the market that same year.
Finally, Prakash Jethwa received a visit from the Royal party. Prakash and his family moved to the country from Kenya in 2007. He gained a Level 2 in Food Industry whilst working for Samworth Brothers and, at the same time, started a small family business selling vegan savouries and snacks to local stores. In 2019, Prakash started selling his food at Leicester Market and will soon be opening his own shop on Belgrave Road.
In addition to meeting with the traders, Their Royal Highnesses also met with Sharma Women Centre whilst at Leicester Market; a charity whose mission is to empower local women from different backgrounds to become socially, educationally and economically active.
Having met with traders, The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall took to the stage to address the Leicester public; many of whom had waited patiently in the cold weather enjoying entertainment provided by local organisations, before officially opening Green Dragon Square.
For a place packed full of history already, the visit of Their Royal Highnesses provided a brand-new chapter which will never be forgotten by those involved – or the traders that had the opportunity to meet them personally.