Sussex entrepreneur and charity has private audience down to earth' Prince before big Coronation weekend

Matt Turner, who is CEO of Creative Pod based at Manor Royal, Crawley, was invited to a private evening at Windsor Castle with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Edward attending, thanks to his work with charities.

Mr Turner said: “One of the roles I’m very proud of is my commitment to charities across Sussex and the Home Counties. As an individual and business I support more than ten charities whilst also being a Patron for Chestnut Tree House and St Peter & St James Hospice.

“A charity I have recently become a donor to is the London Mozart Players (LMP) in Croydon. I’m a massive lover of the arts and an avid art collector so support the creative sectors is something I’m really passionate about. As a result LMP hosted a private evening at Windsor with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as he is their long standing Patron.”

Mr Turner said there were about 80 guests invited and the evening consisted of a drinks reception in the grand hall followed by a 40 minute Mozart recital with the LMP and then dinner. “I was kindly invited to a private audience with the Duke and he went over a number of interesting projects that we are now discussing further.

"The Duke was articulate, engaged and very down to earth. He made you feel at ease and almost at home. He was keen to follow up our discussions and within a couple of days his office emailed me - so true to his word too!”

And he added: “I’ve had the privilege of traveling the world with my carer, being involved in professional sport, growing businesses and meeting some incredible people not to mention raising more than £1m for charity across Sussex over the past ten years or so yet this was one of those stand out pinch me moments especially being at Windsor so close to the Coronation.”

Mr Turner is also the director and co-funder of Young Start-up Talent, a community-based project helping 16-25 years olds with an entrepreneurial flair for business to make their dreams a reality.