The Princess Royal met textile, fashion and costume design students when she spoke at an international conference at the University of Huddersfield.

The Princess addressed the 92nd Textile Institute World Conference (TIWC), held at the university’s Barbara Hepworth Building, in her capacity as president of the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT).

The conference had the theme of ‘Sustainability of the Textile and Fashion Supply Chain – Transitioning to Zero Carbon and Zero Waste.’ The Princess is known to have a keen interest in sustainable manufacturing.

Her Royal Highness met with delegates to discover more about how the conference had addressed strategies to manage the impact of the textile and fashion supply chain on the environment and climate change.

She was welcomed by University of Huddersfield vice-chancellor Prof Bob Cryan, TWIC chairman Prof Parik Goswami, the University of Huddersfield’s professor in technical textiles and director of the Technical Textiles Research Centre, and Adam Mansell, the CEO of UKFT.

After words of welcome from Prof Cryan, the Princess attended a round-table discussion of the textile industry’s roadmap to net zero chaired by Prof Goswami.

After delivering a speech to the conference on Thursday July 6, the Princess met final year students from the university’s Textiles, Fashion and Costume Design courses and was shown the 2023 Graduate Showcase.

Prof Goswami said: “We were extremely honoured and proud to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to the 92nd Textile Institute World Conference here at the University of Huddersfield.

“Her interest in our industry, and in particular our commitment to improving its sustainability, is a long-standing one and we were delighted that she attended this conference with this vital issue at its heart.”