TIDWORTH’S Help for Heroes headquarters received a royal visit when the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry opened its new centre.

The brothers visited Tedworth House on Monday to officially declare the recovery centre open.

In a speech to soldiers and spectators the duke said: “It is an enormous pleasure to be here at Tedworth House. This place – and what Help for Heroes and its partners have done here – makes Harry and me very, very proud.

“When Harry and I, like so many other young men and women, first donned our Help for Heroes wristbands only six years ago, not even we, as servicemen, could have guessed the scale of the challenges ahead.

“In 2007 the nation was beginning to wake up to the reality of the debt that it owed its wounded and sick servicemen returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Through the partnership between many service charities and the Ministry of Defence it was the nation who created this state-of-the-art recovery centre at Tedworth House and it falls to the nation – to all of us – to continue to sustain it.”

The princes spoke to cyclists Staff Sergeant Steve Arnold, Corporal Claire Edwards and Corporal Charlie Lemon, who presented them with Help for Heroes sweaters with Prince Harry and the Duke of Cambridge written on the back, and even gave William one to take home for wife Kate.

After the speeches Prince Harry waved a flag to launch the 2013 Hero Ride, which will see cyclists ride into London on 2 June, led by over 100 wounded servicemen, women and veterans.