N.W.T. woman prepares feast for prince

A woman in Norman Wells, N.W.T., had distinguished company over for dinner earlier this month, feeding Prince Andrew in a top-secret feast.

Queen Elizabeth's second son ate roasted pork loin and chicken pot piecomplete with salad and homemade desserts at Carolyn and Warren Wright's home during a paddling trip the prince and several private school chums made in late June and early July.

Carolyn Wright, who cooked and served the dinner from her own home, told CBC News that she had to keep the 47-year-old regent's visit under wraps for security and privacy reasons.

"It was unofficial business and he just wanted to have a private trip without too much hoopla, you know, with cameras and interviews and that sort of thing," she said Thursday, in an interview with CBC Radio.

She said the prince told her he"didn't want to get into his real world one minute sooner than he had to."

The town of Norman Wells, with a population of 761,is located about 685 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife in the Mackenzie River Valley.

Prince Andrew'scanoe tour down the nearby Natla and Keele rivers marked 30 years since he attended the prestigious Lakefield College Schoolnear Peterborough, Ont. He had attended the private preparatory school on an exchange programfor two termsin 1977, according to the school's website.

To mark the anniversary, Andrew and four former classmates paddled down the rivers sometime between June 23 and July 8.

Andrew, known as the Duke of York, is currently fourth in the line of succession to the British throne.

Wright was chosen to prepare dinner because the tour's organizer and guide is not only a family friend, but also one of the four former classmates who travelled with the prince.

Wright said she was nervous but thrilled to cook for royalty. She described Andrew as personable and down to earth.

"His bodyguard had said to me, 'You know, Carolyn, don't be surprised if the prince only comes and stays for half and hour and doesn't eat a thing, because this is typical of what he can do,'" she recalled.

"But he came in and stayed for three hours and filled up his plate. He ate lots of food, yeah, so all was good."