The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry attended the inauguration of Warner Bros. Studio Leavesden on Friday morning, where they got the chance to tour not only the film studios, but Warner Bros Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter.
An assortment of the royal visit touring sets from the Harry Potter films, including playing and mock-dueling with wands, chatting with author J.K. Rowling, directors David Yates and Mike Newell, and producer David Heyman, can be seen here. Actors Bonnie Wright and Matthew Lewis noted that they were in attendance as well, though as of yet no photos of the pair have been released.
A few
quotes from Prince William and Matthew Lewis, can be read here:
Quote:
Duke of Cambridge: “I’m over the moon just to have seen the real Batmobile and Batpod – they don’t do baby seats for those cars, do they?
“On the other hand Harry’s just excited to see a real life talking owl in the Harry Potter studios. I haven’t told him yet that Harry Potter is fictional, so please keep the secret for a little longer.
“Catherine, Harry and I are very much looking forward to the Harry Potter Studio Tour coming up shortly, and thank you to Warner Brothers for hosting hundreds of children from the charities of which we are fortunate enough to be patrons.”
Quote:
Matthew Lewis: “Today has been great. I was told we would be coming and that we would be meeting William, Kate and Harry, which was fantastic.
“It’s just weird being back at the place where I used to work for 10 years, and then to have the actual royal family here too is amazing. I have been on the tour before but haven’t been back in the actual studios since I finished filming.
“It’s so weird and really surreal being back after all this time. Harry joked that we must just take people round here now.”
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry cast spells, explored iconic sets and discovered the behind-the-scenes secrets of filmmaking as they visited Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.
Spellbound children and parents from Their Royal Highnesses’ supported charities joined them and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling as they relived the magic through the eyes of filmmakers who brought the Harry Potter film series to life.
Their Royal Highnesses stepped on to the flagstones of the Great Hall, the longest standing set from the Harry Potter film series, and The Duchess got
the chance to measure up to the costume of half-giant Rubeus Hagrid. First built for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone™ in 2000, the Great Hall contains a house points system made up of tens of thousands of Indian glass beads which caused a national bead shortage when built. During their visit, Their Royal Highnesses held a meeting with their charities on this iconic set.
Wands were raised for The Duke and Duchess as they took a wand combat lesson in the Gryffindor common room, using choreography from the Harry Potter film series. Wielding their wands, The Duke and Duchess sparred with each other.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry was surprised to see carrots chopping themselves in the Weasley kitchen, home to a number of household special effects including a self-ironing iron and self-washing frying pan. The set was designed to appear as though Mr Weasley had built much of it himself so doors, windows and walls all sit at crooked angles.
Their Royal Highnesses reunited in Diagon Alley where they took part in a special effects demonstration. By pointing their wands, The Duke, The Duchess and Prince Harry were able to cast a spell which made the sign above Potage’s Cauldron Shop bang and flash as if by magic.
In the Studio Tour’s Wand Room – an area dedicated to the thousands of talented British cast and crew that worked on the film series – Their Royal Highnesses were presented with their own wands, hand-carved by propmaking expert Pierre Bohanna.