A ripple of excitement could be felt as Prince Harry entered the Farm Discovery Zone of the Suffolk Show to present the award for the Farming School of the Year.

Before the presentation the prince took plenty of time to chat to school pupils from the three finalist schools: Saxmundham, Stanton and Orford.

Pip Whitehouse, deputy headteacher at Stanton Primary School, said pupils there were “very excited” when they heard Prince Harry would be presenting the award.

“We talked about what the children had been doing and learning at school about farming, and how they got this far,” she said.

Many of the children at Stanton PS have family members in the military, and the prince was very interested to hear where they were deployed and when they would be home.

“We’ve got quite a few military children at our school, he was talking to them about their fathers being in Afghanistan, we’ve got one whose Dad is in the Falklands,” said Ms Whitehouse. “He was interested in that and when their Dads are going to be home.”

One of those children whose father is in Afghanistan is Olivia Brophy, she was also closely involved in making the school’s model combine harvester for the Farming School of the Year Competition, which said was, “hard, but really good as well”.

Prince Harry also spoke to pupils at The Abbey Preparatory in Woodbridge, who were making pizzas in the Farm Discovery Zone.

He even asked 11-year-old Neve Walker if he could take her pizza with him when she had finished it, unfortunately she had to say no as it wouldn’t be ready in time.

The winner of the Farming School of the Year Competition was Saxmundham Free School.