Date is announced for a royal visit to see one of Harrogate's most celebrated shops

The visit by The Princess Royal will take place on Wednesday, September 20 and will see Her Royal Highness visit Woods of Harrogate on Prince Albert Row.

The parade of shops on Station Parade boasts some of the town’s most respected shops and businesses.

There is a long history of royal visits to Harrogate, from the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2016 for the 50th anniversary year of Harrogate International Festival in 2016 and HRH The Duke of Gloucester earlier this year at the opening day of the Great Yorkshire Show.

Royal visits to shops are rarer...

But Prince Albert Row is no ordinary shopping street and Woods of Harrogate is no ordinary shop.

Instead this prestigious address prides itself on the highest standards, said William Woods of Woods Fine Linens.

“Our success is based on being different and not being afraid of quality,” he said.

"My mantra is ‘whatever we do is never good enough’. Complacency is extremely dangerous.”

In preparation for the visit by Princess Anne, Harrogate Business Improvement District, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce and a number of local businesses have come together to make sure the street looks its best.