THE last VIP to visit the Windsor Women's Centre in south Belfast received a very different reception. The President, Mrs Robinson, was hissed and booed by loyalist women but for Prince Charles yesterday there was nothing but laughter and love.
Residents of the staunchly Protestant area surged forward to shake hands outside the women's centre which arsonists tried to burn three times after Mrs Robinson's visit. Prince Charles, who was aware of the trouble over the previous visit, could not resist telling one woman who had opposed it that he thought the President "a lovely lady".
But Ms Thelma Mehaffey, chairwoman of the residents' association, bit her tongue. "I just smiled," she said afterwards. "Nobody has anything personal against Mary Robinson but they didn't want her being paraded around here like queen of Ireland."
Several hundred women and children, who were allowed out of school early, gathered behind metal barriers to cheer the prince as he walked in one of the city's most deprived areas.
Earlier, in hail and snow, the prince visited a new £1.6 million residential housing scheme in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim. He sheltered with the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, under a hopelessly inadequate umbrella.
He met some of the pensioners who live in the Wesley Court development, including Mrs Mary McDonald. "We had quite a wee talk together," she said, "We chatted about my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was very nice to speak to. I was very impressed."
Later, the prince visited Queen's University to open the Questor Centre which is dedicated to working with industry to improve the environment.
Last night, he officially opened Belfast's spectacular new Waterfront concert hall on the banks of the Lagan. The opera singer, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, who sang at the prince's wedding, headed an international cast at the £80-a-seat concert which was in aid of the Prince's Trust. The performers gave their services free.
. British army bomb disposal experts carried out two controlled explosions on a suspect van bomb last night just a few hundred yards from where Prince Charles attended the opening of the Waterfront Hall. The explosions, heard over a wide area, occurred around 10 p.m. An examination of the van's contents by the RUC established that the threat had been a hoax.