“Don’t let him press the wrong button,” trader Grant Turner was warned before demonstrating to the Prince of Wales how shares were bought and sold on Europe’s largest equity trading floor in the City of London on Tuesday. Prince Charles, who was in the City to officially open the Merrill Lynch Financial Centre, bought £30,000 worth of shares under the watchful eye the investment bank’s staff.
“I have a dreadful feeling that all I’ve done is cause considerable disruption to the normal working day of this financial services company,” said the Prince after his tour of the spanking new building, which was due to be opened last November but was postponed because of the events of September 11.
“I’m not wishing to show my ignorance by trying to make intelligent comments about the state of the markets, but I know they haven’t been very good lately,” continued Charles. “I hope and pray that things won’t last like this for much longer,” he added before unveiling a plaque at the event.
Earlier in the day the heir to the throne visited the site of what will soon become another new building at the Wapping Power Station in East London. The former power station is to be converted into a contemporary art gallery, and the Prince’s visit marks the launch of a project aimed at encouraging young people in local communities to rescue historic buildings at risk. The campaign is intended to help revive rundown developments.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
