THE Duchess of Cornwall will make a royal return to the Swindon area on Monday for a very special occasion.

Camilla has been president of Prospect Hospice since 2013 and will be popping into its Wroughton headquarters to celebrate the charity’s 40th anniversary year.

While there, she will unveil new embroidery designed and hand-sewn by the Marlborough Embroiderers Guild to mark the occasion.

Prospect Hospice’s director of community development Warren Finney said: “We’re honoured that our President, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall will be visiting us on Monday and we’re delighted to be able to show her everything that’s going on at the hospice.

“We have a full programme planned for her to showcase the vital services we offer to the local community, all offered free of charge thanks to the generous donations of so many of our supporters.

“Visit like this also enable us to highlight to the local community exactly what their vital donations help us achieve and exactly why we rely on their continued support.”

The hospice supports and cares for around 7,300 patients, carers and family members every year.

It offers a range of free services, including end-of-life care and bereavement support, which have been developed to bring comfort and confidence at a very difficult time for clients and their loved ones.

Irene Watkins took on the top job as Prospect’s new chief executive in May 2019 after joining the team in August 2018.

The duchess's visit to Prospect will be almost a year to the day since her last trip to Swindon on January 24.

On that occasion she had a double-bill of literary events as part of her work as patron of the National Literacy Trust, which was celebrating its first anniversary at the time.

Excited youngsters at North Swindon Library enjoyed an unforgettable storytime session with the duchess who recited one of her favourite poems and presented a Lost Words poetry competition prize to one lucky child.

She listened to the winning poem and watched the enthusiastic crowd of children take part in an interactive storytelling session.

The day ended with the duchess greeting foster carers, foster children and the family support team at the borough council’s Lyndhurst Centre.

She presented the centre with a huge hamper full of Highgrove goodies and watched the youngsters as they played.