Salt Rock creative wiz meets Prince Harry

Salt Rock resident and founder of The MakerSpace, Steve Gray had the honour of meeting the one and only Prince Henry of Wales, known as Prince Harry, in Johannesburg last week.

Wearing true Salt Rock fashion, slops and shorts, Gray casually played a game developed by fellow makers with the British Royal.

“A few South African makers were selected and flown up by The Maker Library Network, a British Council project that connects designers and makers internationally. We were invited to a show and tell exhibition for British dignitaries,” said Gray, who runs The MakerSpace in the Station Drive precinct in Durban.

“The event was very secretive, so it was quite a surprise when Prince Harry arrived, surrounded by an entourage of men in suits and about 50 photographers. It was quite a weird experience.”

Cape Town makers Marc and Nick from Thingking were showing a collaborative game they invented to the Prince and the Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau, when they needed another player.

“I expected to be formally introduced to the Prince after they were finished, but when Marc said ‘Steve come play’, Harry looked at me and said ‘Hello Steve’. I did not expect that, so I just replied with ‘Howzit man’,” said Steve with a chuckle, as they had been told to address the Prince as His Royal Highness.

“He looked at me and said ‘nice beard’ and again not expecting it, I automatically said ‘thanks bro’.” The ice was broken instantly and after playing the game, they moved on to Gray’s side of the exhibition.

“I showed him some 3D printing, we did a 3D scan of the mayor and I explained how the low cost electronic chips we designed for our robots can also be used for meaningful change in communities for things like water sampling. He was interested and asked good questions, and we shared a few laughs about 3D scanning the mayor. He really was a good sport.”

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