The only other senior royal to come here on official duty since 2000, besides Princess Anne and Prince Andrew, was Prince Charles. His fourth trip, on November 23, 2010, was perhaps the most significant, for he came to launch Campaign for Wool, a five-year international drive to boost the demand for wool.

The plummeting price of wool and the plight of sheep farmers had prompted Prince Charles to start the campaign in an attempt to boost and sustain wool prices over five years.

He said: “The wool and textile industry around Bradford plays a vital role in the economic well-being of this region and the whole of the UK and I am greatly encouraged by the impressive levels of innovation and quality at the sites I am visiting today.”

Among them were Stanningley cloth manufacturer Hainsworth – which had produced the cloth for the military tunic worn by the Prince for his marriage in 1981 to Diana Spencer – and the Bradford firms Haworth Scouring and Bulmer & Lumb.

Less than two months after the 2001 riot, the worst on mainland Britain since 1981, Prince Charles was in West Bowling opening the Bradford Foyer, a training project for people aged between 16 and 25.

In the course of his 90-minute visit, he had private meetings with a dozen young adults and teenagers and members of the Business in Community scheme.

He said: “We are all deeply sad about the growing divisions witnessed in Bradford earlier this summer.

“I know that through talking to people here that in cities like Bradford there are worthwhile projects that so often get buried under the difficulties that can arise.

“It is very important to highlight all these projects and initiatives which are carried out by remarkable people who must sometimes feel downhearted by all the negative publicity.”

The Prince also opened the £5.2 million Marie Curie hospice, off Leeds Road, and expressed his admiration for the people of Bradford who had contributed £2m towards the cost.

Referring to some of the more “bizarre” ideas to raise money, the Prince raised a laugh by mentioning his recent, much-publicised fall from a Polo horse.

“I heard that one of the fund-raising idesas was having an auction that had two tonnes of horse manure as one of the items. I know how valuable horse manure can be particularly if a horse comes down on top of you,” he said.

One of the guests Prince Charles met was the late YTV Calendar presenter and Countdown quiz-master Richard Whiteley, a supporter of the Marie Curie charity.

He said: “My father died in Ardenlea and although he was only in there 24 hours, I am happy to support it and being a Bradford person I am delighted the new centre is here in Bradford.”

Sheena Bradley, the centre’s director, said of Prince Charles’s visit: “He gave so much time to the patients, the volunteers and the staff – he didn’t short-change anybody and seemed genuinely interested from the heart.”