With just 122 days to their wedding, Prince Harry and his fiancée Meghan Markle will undertake their first engagement of the year today – and only their second as a couple.
The royal pair, who are due to tie the knot on May 19 at Windsor Castle, are due at the studios of Reprezent 107.3 FM in Brixton, south London, a 24-hour underground music station and the only one in the UK presented by people under 25.
Founded in 2003 by former teacher Shane Carey, it grew out of a south London community radio project in response to a sudden increase in knife crime in Peckham, south London.
Harry and Meghan approached the station’s founder three days before Christmas asking if they could come and see the station for themselves
Inna Coas, 42, and her daughter Davinna have been waiting since 10am to catch a glimpse of the couple. Miss Coas, who is originally from Moscow, Russia, said: ‘Like Meghan, my children are mixed race. Meghan is an inspiration and her marrying into the royal family will give them models to look up to’
Members of the public eagerly waited for the arrival of Harry and Meghan for their visit to youth-orientated radio station
In 2011 it won its FM licence and is now known as a hotbed of UK music talent, nurturing stars including the grime maestro Stormzy, who started off as a guest but whose natural persona led to him being offered his own monthly show. Several of its presenters have also gone onto work on stations such as Radio 1Xtra.
In the last few months alone, Reprezent has also collaborated with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz, while stars including Noel Gallagher have dropped in to do interviews.
Reprezent has become such an urban success story that it now runs its own training and mentoring programme, teaching participants everything from booking guests to presenting and production.
More than 4,000 have been through the station’s training programme already – which offers accredited training and support in everything from audio and radio production to communication skills, confidence building and volunteering – with another 3,000 on the waiting list.
According to Shane Carey, CEO and Founder, it was Harry and Meghan who approached him three days before Christmas asking if they could come and see the station for themselves.
Apparently they had learnt about its work with The Queen’s Young Leaders, which Harry has been particularly involved in, who in turn introduced him to William, Kate and Harry’s Royal Foundation, the umbrella group for their own charitable interests.
Reprezent is known as a hotbed of UK music talent, nurturing stars including the grime maestro Stormzy (left) – while stars including Noel Gallagher (right) have dropped in to do interviews
Six-year-old Davina Coas helped her mother paint two flamingos in love as an engagement present for the couple
Well-wishers took along bouquets of flowers adorned with pictures of the happy couple, and wore their Union Jacks as they waited in the cold
Brixton resident of 50 years Jean Carter, 72, has been waiting for the royal couple since midday. She said: ‘This visit is a part of history’
With just 122 days to their wedding, Prince Harry and his fiancée Meghan Markle are undertaking their second engagement as a couple
‘We didn’t invite them, they approached us just before Christmas. I was asked to give a major presentation the next day and have been working on this non-stop ever since,’ he said.
‘The reason they are coming is because we are aligned very closely to their interests, we do a lot of work around mental health. The whole model of Reprezent is peer mentoring, and I know that is something that really interests Prince Harry.
‘Reprezent came out of a community station and has been so successful that it has just eclipsed everything else.
‘Reprezent is about giving young people a voice and confidence. And radio is probably the way to do it. There are so many jobs that you can do within radio – not just the obvious skills, but also getting on with people, turning your hands to all sorts of jobs. ‘
Mr Carey said a lot of people had been asking him: why Meghan?
‘Well, by coincidence 60 per cent of our intake are women, and they become, through their work here, quite strong, confident, opinionated women,’ he said, referencing her strong feminist principles, outspoken nature and philanthropic work.
Mr Carey said Reprezent’s training programme allowed young people to fulfil their potential and to progress into further education and employment opportunity.
Many of the young people who complete the training are able to volunteer as presenters and producers on the station.
Excited Brixton residents and tourists alike gathered outside the station with flowers in anticipation of the royal visit
Inna Coas, 42, and her daughter Davinna waited from 10am to catch a glimpse of the couple. Miss Coas, who is originally from Moscow, Russia, said: ‘Like Meghan, my children are mixed race. Meghan is an inspiration and her marrying into the royal family will give them models to look up to.
‘I think it’s brilliant and beautiful. We have made a poster and my daughter has brought a painting to give to them as a gift’
During their 45 minute visit to the station at POP Brixton today, Harry and Meghan are not due to be on air.
But they do plan to meet as many of the presenters, producers, staff and volunteers and well as current members of the training programme.
‘They were very clear they didn’t want to be on the radio but one thing they were very, very strong on, which I quite liked actually, is that they wanted to talk to young people as much as possible.
‘The station will be running while they are there, we will have young people doing social media, editing etc, so they will be seeing it as it happens. It’s less about them and more about hearing the stories of those here.
‘The amount of planning that has gone into this in such a short space of time has been huge. But this is brilliant for us. We have been slogging at it for 15 years and to actually have the spotlight shone on us in this way is remarkable.
‘From Harry’s point of view it’s a fact finding thing and he genuinely wants to see it in action. You can see these things on paper but that doesn’t really convey what we do.
‘We have had a lot of young people come through but we are quite a lean operation and what I hope is that it will get us more support both practically and financially, so we can have more impact. ‘
Reprezent 107.3FM already has a sizeable audience outside of London and is growing in America, where it is streamed online.
‘London is seen as pretty cool when it comes to music at the moment,’ Mr Carey said.
‘When it comes to what we do here, only 20 per cent go on to be presenters – there is so much more to the industry….production, artist liaison, social media management.
‘A lot of young people who come through us, don’t even go into the music industry. They go into customer facing jobs, because they have great CVs packed with work experience.
‘That is as much as a success for us as anything else. ‘