It's not every day you get to meet a duchess, but on Sunday afternoon, several young artists did just that when the Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester visited the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

The Duchess formally opened the current exhibition, Floral Lane, at a members-only reception at the Gallery, but before carrying out her official duties, she took time to meet some of the youngest members of Bermuda's art scene.

The youngsters were among those who have participated in the Museum's various art programmes, and ranged in age from three to 14 years.

As they exchanged a few words with the Duchess, the youngsters held up samples of the work that had been created for a 2011 calendar, which will go on sale at the One-stop Shopping event on Saturday November 20 at the museum.

Sandys Secondary Middle School student, Jean-Pierre Elijah Lucas, described his encounter with Her Royal Highness:

"Before I went to meet the Duchess of Gloucester at Masterworks I felt very nervous, shy, and cold, and I thought I was going to faint or worse.

"When the Duchess was about to arrive in the Rose Garden, a large motorcade of police bikes arrived.

"Next, came the police officers who were on the security detail. I was holding a painting of a Bird of Paradise on canvas that I had been working on during three sessions at Masterworks in my Saturday Art Classes.

"The other children were holding pictures of flowers that they had painted or constructed.

"The Duchess arrived in a long blue limousine. Once she exited the limo she entered the Rose Garden, and she walked around the perimeter of the garden. Then she came towards us and told us that she was impressed with our artwork.

The Duchess came over to me along with the Governor of Bermuda, Sir Richard Gozney, and I explained to the Duchess that my canvas was a painting of a Bird of Paradise.

The Duchess said that she could see that it was The Bird of Paradise. I was chuckling inside.

"Niger [Young] got the Duchess' autograph on the back of her class picture! She was so lucky!

"I was going to ask the Duchess if she would autograph the back of my canvas, but I didn't, because I was too nervous.

"After her tour of our artwork she headed towards the front entrance of the museum to continue her tour.

"At this point I thought I was going to collapse, because this was my first experience meeting royalty."

Education Director, Robyn De Silva, commented, "It was a good experience for the children to be able to meet Her Royal Highness and to present their work to someone of her social standing."

Earlier, during the classes, while the students were creating their artwork, there was a palpable sense of excitement.

Miss De Silva explained: "They were excited that they were creating artwork to go into a calendar, and they could say, 'I painted that picture'. It was a significant event that their work was noticed by someone special. They were creating a memory."

As Her Royal Highness was leaving, having toured the exhibition and briefly addressed the gathering, Bermuda College student Shanley Todd presented her with a cedar tray made by one of the inmates at Casemates Correctional Facility and Victoria Mello presented her with a posy of flowers.

At that point everyone could breathe a sigh of relief and dive into the refreshments.