Queen visits Royal School of Needlework in UK

LONDON: Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah today visited The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) in Hampton Court Palace, which is the international centre of excellence for the art of hand embroidery.

Her Majesty was at the centre which is about 18km from London city for almost two hours watching the various works on embroidery by the students, accompanied by the RSN’s CEO, Dr Susan Kay Williams.

The centre offers a range of courses for beginners through to advanced, while its studio works beautiful bespoke commissions for the future as well as restoring historical textiles and bringing heirlooms back to life.

During the visit, Raja Permaisuri Agong also had a friendly conversation and shared her knowledge on embroidery with the students while looking at their art works, including Francesca Lim Shu Xuen, a final-year Malaysian student in the centre.

Her Majesty, who is known for her work in developing Malaysia’s heritage of traditional crafts and arts, also took the opportunity to learn ‘seeding stitch’ which is used as a filler stitch.

Tunku Azizah recently received the 2019 Craft Icon of the Year Award by the World Craft Council at a ceremony in New Delhi, India.

Lim, 22, from Bandar Sri Damansara in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, said she was honoured to meet Her Majesty and present her works.

“This school is the best place to learn hand embroidery arts and hopefully I can work for a world famous fashion house when I graduate,” she told reporters.

Meanwhile, Her Majesty also visited the Queen Elizabeth Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) which is a national charity committed to providing life-transforming services that enable people with disabilities to increase their independence and achieve their goals in life.

QEF works with over 5,000 children and adults every year with physical or learning disabilities or acquired brain injuries, and help them to fulfil their potential in life.

Tunku Azizah and Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah are on a special visit to the United Kingdom till Dec 16. – BERNAMA

Source: NST