TWO former pupils of a St Albans secondary school were among hundreds of young achievers from across the UK who recently met the Duke of Edinburgh at an award ceremony at St James’s Palace.

James Brown and Chris Wheatcroft, both of St Albans and former Verulam School students, received their gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards (DofE) at the prestigious event.

While at Verulam they completed five sections of their DofE programme including gym membership to build up their fitness levels, and lead Sunday school at St Paul’s church, Hatfield Road, for their service section.

For skills, they focussed on developing their musical talents with James on drums and Chris on violin.

The culmination of the award was an expedition across mountains in Corsica.

James and Chris said: “Meeting Prince Philip was a memorable end to all the hard work, especially as we enjoyed a laugh when he asked us whether we had got lost on our expedition.”

The pair thanked Verulam’s DofE coordinator Mike Toley for his support during each stage of the programme, which has been undertaken by about 200 pupils at the school.