A wedding gift is to be presented to Prince William and Kate Middleton when they visit St Andrews today, in the form of a new scholarship.
St Andrews University, where the couple met and graduated from in 2005, has established the £70,000 scholarship in their honour to mark their forthcoming nuptials.
The prince will launch the Fife university’s 600th anniversary on the pair’s first official engagement in Scotland.
As he does so, Typhoon aircraft from RAF Leuchars will perform a fly-past.
The visit will also be the prince’s first in his role as patron of the university’s anniversary fund-raising campaign. An aim of the £100 million campaign is to raise funds for scholarships to ensure that a St Andrews education is accessible to all bright students, regardless of background or circumstance.
The university hopes to collect £13 million for such scholarships and support for students. Applicants of all nationalities who otherwise could not afford to study at St Andrews will be able to apply for the scholarship in the name of Prince William and Miss Middleton.
Made annually, it will meet the costs of tuition, accommodation and living expenses for a four-year undergraduate degree in science, arts, medicine or divinity.
University principal and vice-chancellor Professor Louise Richardson will present the gift on behalf of staff and students.
She said, “This will be the first scholarship of its kind at St Andrews and a reflection of this university’s commitment to ensure that we find, attract and support the most gifted students from anywhere in the world.
“It will guarantee that a high quality Scottish higher education can be available to any citizen of the world, that a lack of means need not be a barrier to study and that bright students who might otherwise have been unable to go to university can fulfil their potential.”
The university’s sexcentenary celebrations will run until 2013, marking the formal charter granted by Bishop Henry Wardlaw in February 1411 and the achievement of full university status conferred by Pope Benedict XIII by Papal Bull in 1413.
During today’s visit, Prince William and Miss Middleton will attend a reception at University House and visit the Museum of the University of St Andrews (MUSA), where they will be shown the surviving Papal Bull.
A gathering of 600 staff and students will await the couple in St Salvator’s Quadrangle, where the prince will unveil a plaque.The Typhoon fly-past by Number 6 Squadron is scheduled to take place at 11.55am, dependent on weather and operational requirements.