FESTIVAL Place received the royal seal of approval this week when it was officially opened by The Duke of Gloucester.

The duke, who is the Queen's cousin, unveiled a commemorative plaque in Queen Anne's Square in front of a sizeable throng of local dignitaries, VIPs and shoppers, to mark the special occasion at the £300million landmark shopping and leisure complex.

Among the audience were Cllr Rita Burgess, the Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane, Hampshire Lord Lieutenant Mrs Mary Fagan and Basingstoke MP Andrew Hunter.

The duke's visit came four months after the centre - which has already welcomed seven million visitors - first opened its doors.

It was also the second time the trained architect had visited Festival Place, having been shown around the centre in a hard hat in July when it was still being constructed.

Before unveiling the plaque, the duke said: "It gives me great pleasure to come again to Basingstoke and to have a second look at the place.

"I would like to congratulate the work of the professionals for using their experience to provide the architecture for such a variety of shops.

"I am sure many people will be unaware how great a challenge it was to construct the centre but, equally, I am sure they will appreciate the ease with which they, the service vehicles and lorries can move around. I hope there will be many more millions of visitors to come."

The duke was given an extensive tour of the centre which included visits to numerous shops. He was even tempted to put his hand in his pocket in the market place when he purchased two organic chocolate brownies at £1.50 each.

Speaking during Wednesday's visit, Stephen Musgrave, chief executive of Grosvenor, which carried out the building of the new centre, told The Gazette: "We are delighted the duke is officially opening Festival Place and joining us to celebrate its success.

"The event commemorates the outstanding partnership between Basingstoke council and the development team, and the hard work and dedication of everyone involved.

"The largest vote of thanks must go to the people of Basingstoke. They have had to have an enormous amount of patience to live with a major refurbishment on this scale.

"It has transformed Basingstoke as a place to live, work and play. I have every confidence the town is going to continue its growth as a thriving centre of commerce and culture."

Before visiting Festival Place, which included a special buffet lunch at Ciao Baby Cucina, the royal visitor had a busy morning in the borough.

His visit began with a tour of the Oakridge Hall for All, where he looked at plans for Oakridge's major regeneration scheme. He also opened the new extension to Shopmobility in Church Street prior to the main Festival Place tour and paid tribute to the standard of the town's Shopmobility service.