Curtsies at the ready as youngsters prepare to give royals a proper Yorkshire welcome

Jessica Fox, right, and Kate Donnelly, have been chosen to greet the Royal couple.

TWO little girls from North Yorkshire have been busy practising their curtsies after they were chosen to greet the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall when they visit the Great Yorkshire Show next week.

Four-year-old Jessica Fox and five-year-old Kate Donnelly will present the royal couple with a buttonhole and posy of Yorkshire white roses on the opening day of the 157th Great Yorkshire Show on Tuesday.

Jessica, of Thirsk, is no stranger to the show, having first visited when she was just two weeks old as her grandmother is Show Director Bill Cowling’s PA, Janet Fox.

Her mother Lynsay Fox said: “Jessica is busy practicing her curtsies at home, they are a bit wobbly at the moment. She is very much looking forward to meeting the Royal couple.”

Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall in the Presidents box at the Great Yorkshire Showground in 2011.

Kate, who attend Hookstone Chase Primary School in Harrogate, is equally excited.

Her mother Emma Donnelly, the Great Yorkshire Show’s trade stand officer, said: “Kate loves anything to do with the Royal family and she is already visiting Buckingham Palace with her grandmother later this summer so this has meant her excitement levels are at an all-time high.”

More than 130,000 people are expected to visit the show in Harrogate over three days next week. A total of 12,651 entries have been received for this year’s farming showcase, just short of its all-time record of 12,847.

Alongside the usual events and attractions, television chef Rosemary Shrager will be back entertaining audiences at the Game Cookery Theatre, and, for the first time, the Cheese and Dairy Show will also have its own cookery stage featuring some of the region’s leading chefs.

Advanced tickets are available at www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk