The UK’s graphene campaign is relentless (my most recent, previous comment on it was in a Feb. 6, 2012 posting). Now, they’ve brought royalty to the University of Manchester, according to a Feb. 20, 2012 news item by Cameron Chai on Azonano,

His Royal Highness, The Duke of York has made a visit to the University of Manchester to understand more about graphene and its commercializing research.

The original Feb. 17, 2012 news release from the University of Manchester about Prince Andrew’s visit notes,

In the afternoon, the Prince was invited to the Innovation Centre and met UMI3 CEO, Clive Rowland.   His Royal Highness visited UMI3 as part of his desire to see that the UK is recognised as the best place in the world for Science and Engineering.
…
[Clive said] “He is keen to see the University continue to develop its capabilities in this regard and promote its successes and products internationally. He is extremely enthusiastic about the potential of graphene and interested in the different applications and routes to market for it.

Given that the University of Manchester is part of a consortium competing for a 1 billion Euro funding prize for the GRAPHENE-CA FET (Future and Emerging Technologies) flagship project, this campaign is fascinating to observe. The question that arises: If this is what we can observe, what can they be doing behind closed doors?