Voices is the Dorset Echo's weekly youth page - written for young people by young people.

This week Ellie describes her excitement as she headed to Buckingham Palace.

It was a very special day for myself, and many others, when we attended a presentation at Buckingham Palace to celebrate receiving our gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Also attending the presentation was around 40 celebrities, who were there to hand out the awards, as well as The Duke of Cambridge, Princess Beatrice of York, and The Earl of Wessex.

I arrived at Buckingham Palace with my mum and we were both very eager to walk through the gates. Both of us had a grin reaching from ear to ear - it felt like we were in a dream.

As the royal guests arrived, everyone turned and faced towards Buckingham Palace while the band was playing the National Anthem. A lady then approached our group and announced the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward was on his way to meet and greet us.

I started to get nervous and excited, I was going to meet royalty! He was a lovely gentleman, full of energy and eager to find out how we all found our Gold Duke of Edinburgh.

He congratulated us all and spoke to our guests. From the look on my mum’s face, she was very excited by what was happening.

Once The Earl of Wessex had left, Dr Vanessa Lawrence, a British businessperson, geographer, proceeded to hand out our awards.

She shook my hand and congratulated me on such an achievement and handed me my certificate. One final speech was given by Dr Vanessa Lawrence, and congratulated us one last time on our achievement.

It was then time to head home; the whole experience had gone so quickly for me and my mum. As a whole, it was breath-taking and I still cannot take in that my mum and I have walked through the gates of Buckingham Palace and wandered around the gardens.

It is a day that I most definitely won’t forget and will cherish this memory with me for the rest of my life. I am definitely a lucky individual to be able to experience such an event, alongside some inspirational individuals. I’m grateful to say that I have achieved not only my Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh, but also my Gold. So much time and effort was put towards all of these awards, especially Gold.

I want to thank everyone that has enabled me to have this opportunity in life, especially my parents and my school, Budmouth College. I was able to push past my limits and learn a wide range of new skills, as well as making lots of new memories that I am able to carry with me forever.

By Ellie Hill