EXCITED youngsters are today preparing themselves for a Royal visit from the Countess of Wessex.Prince Edward's wife Sophie will be arriving by helicopter this morning for a whistle stop tour of Suffolk.

IPSWICH: Excited youngsters are today preparing themselves for a Royal visit from the Countess of Wessex.

Prince Edward's wife Sophie will be arriving by helicopter this morning for a whistle stop tour of Suffolk.

She will start her visit around 10.30am by dropping in to see youngsters at the Thomas Wolsey School in Defoe Road.

She will be greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, The Lord Tollemache, before meeting headteacher Nancy McArdle.

The Countess - who as Patron of the Autistic Society has a special interest in children with learning difficulties - will spend time meeting pupils and touring facilities, including the school's sensory pool and other equipment used to help youngsters' development.

She will then meet Mike Everett, headteacher of Thurleston High School - which is on the same site as Thomas Wolsey - before unveiling a plaque to commemorate her visit.

Mrs McArdle said pupils and staff could not wait to watch the helicopter landing on the school field.

“It means a huge amount to the children, they are very excited,” she said. “Ours is a very unique school, an all-age special school completely merged with a high school.”

The Countess will then travel to DanceEast's Jerwood DanceHouse on Ipswich Waterfront where she will meet chief executive Assis Carreiro and chairman Lyn Goleby.

She will have a tour of the building and meet students and teachers from Holywells High School, undergraduates from University Campus Suffolk and youngsters from Halifax Primary School.

After DanceEast the Countess will be flown by helicopter to Easton Farm Park, near Wickham Market.