Princess Anne opens new university campus

The Princess Royal has officially opened a university's new campus building that was built on the site of a former department store.

Princess Anne cut the ribbon on the brand new University of Gloucestershire campus situated on the site of the former Debenhams in Gloucester on Friday.

The £75m campus will be the base for 1,200 staff and students from the university's education, psychology and social work departments.

"We are immensely proud of City Campus as a city centre, community campus, and officially opening the building in the presence of Her Royal Highness is a fitting milestone for the development," said Dame Clare Marchant DBE, Vice-Chancellor of University of Gloucestershire.

"We have always sought to ensure that City Campus honours Gloucester's heritage while creating new opportunities for learning, collaboration and civic engagement. As such, this is a hugely exciting way to begin this new chapter."

The new campus includes a new public library and is home to a new arts, health and wellbeing centre that is being run in partnership with the NHS.

People from the university and community attended the visit and had the chance to speak with Her Royal Highness.

"I'm so thrilled that this is now such a wonderful building," said 92-year-old Edna Lee, who started worked at the Debenhams store for 64 years and has fond memories of her time there.

"The right people have it and it would have been awful if it had gone into disrepair and looked tatty," she added.

"Inside you wouldn't recognise it because everything's new and wonderful and outside the windows are the same lovely windows just like they were when I started [in 1948]."

Edna got the chance to meet the Princess Royal and had a "very pleasant conversation" that made her feel like she was "a best friend".

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