Camden Market welcomes Royal visitor

Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, visited Camden Market in the first royal visit to the area for over 40 years.

The visit, part of the Duke’s entrepreneurship campaign, included a tour of Half Hitch Gin Micro-Distillery in Camden Lock in celebration of Camden’s prominent history in gin distilling.

Mark Holdsworth, owner of Half Hitch, has lived and worked in Camden since he was born. Through providing his gin at events at St James’ and Buckingham Palace he has met the Duke on a number of occasions and encouraged the visit to his distillery.

Mark said: “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to invite The Duke to Camden to look at the way I produce Half Hitch but also to see the thriving environment of Camden Market and to meet some of the other entrepreneurs based at the new Interchange.”

The Duke also visited the new co-working space, Interchange, on his trip, which was recently launched to include more working venues and office facilities in and around the market.

The visit marked recognition of the market’s rich business history and special cultural heritage as the birthplace of many international companies such as Vivienne Westwood and Innocent Smoothies.