PUPILS and staff from St Mary’s Primary School in Bentworth wore red, white and blue on Friday as they celebrated the forthcoming royal wedding with a special ‘Generation Game’ party.

Designed to bridge the age gap and enable members of the community to share interests, experiences and skills, the generation game has been a hugely successful project for the school.

And, last Friday, church and community members joined the children for a special lunch where such treats as duchess potatoes, chicken royal and love shortbread were on the menu.

The Jubilee Hall looked suitably festive as it was adorned with Union Flag bunting, as well as balloons and banners bearing the faces of Prince Harry and his bride, Meghan Markle.

During the afternoon, the hall was filled with the buzz of excitement as adults and children worked together to explore the royal family tree, design wedding balloons, plot the course of the royal wedding procession, and make crowns.

Many parents came to join in the fun, the highlight of which was a royal afternoon tea, made by Ash Class.

All the pupils had previously participated in a drama workshop to enable them to understand the personalities and roles of the royal family.

Sarah Whitley, a parochial church council member, was impressed by the children’s knowledge. “They showed an excellent understanding of how the royal family contributes to British life,” she said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.”

Maria Fordyce, chairman of governors, said: “We were delighted to welcome friends from our local villages to share lunch with the children and help in their understanding of our school value ‘belong’ - belonging to our school, local community, part of a nation, and celebrating together such a happy event.”

In true community spirit, all the royal decorations were donated to the village committee who recycled them for a village green royal party, held to coincide with Saturday’s big day itself.