Every fall, a group of students traveled through Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia as part of the Harding University in Australasia study abroad program. While every group experienced the mountain of New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the fall 2015 group also got the chance to see the British royal family in person. Junior Leigh Chickering remembered the opportunity vividly because class was canceled for the occasion. "We were staying at a university in Dunedin, ew Zealand, and we heard from people at the college that Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla were coming to the train station down the road from us," Chickering said. ·'So we were able to get out of classes for what we called a 'Prince Day' so we could go see them." The group got a chance to see Charles, Prince of Wales, the son of Queen Elizabeth and the heir to the throne ofEngland, as well as his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Some members of the group, like sophomore Jake Black, said they felt star struck upon seeing royalty. "I was super excited to be in the presence of royalty because I had only heard of them in the news and in magazines," Black said. "But once I actually got a chance to see them, they just felt like normal people to me." 11 t · .\ Some of the group, like junior Colin Escue, even got to shake hands with the future king of England. "I didn't even know what to say to him when I shook his hand," Escue said. "He had a really firm grip and a super deep voice, which was a little overwhelming to be honest. I was at a loss for words." The loss for words did not last long. On a whim, the group began to sing together loudly for the royal family the only song they thought appropriate for the situation. "We were standing right by where all of the news stations were and Gunior) Kailyn Willis started singing 'Royals' by Larde, and we all joined in," Chickering said. "Apparently singing randomly while waiting for the prince is not a common thing in New Zealand, so all of the newscasters started to swarm us and asked us to start over a couple times. We didn't sound great but it was an awesome moment." Multiple ew Zealand news stations broadcasted the HUA group's rendition of Lorde's hit song so the students, and countless others, were able to see their spur-of-the-moment tune to Charles and Camilla on television. "Our singing was awesome... in our minds at least," Black said. "But to the locals I have no clue how we sounded."
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