Breaking news: Royal visit to temple called off

A visit by the Duke of Edinburgh to a city Hindu temple has been called off because of a row between members, it was revealed today.

The visit, on Thursday, has been cancelled because of a dispute between two parties based at the Shree Hindu Temple and Community Centre, in St Barnabas Road, Leicester.

Some of the members wrote to Buckingham Palace asking that the visit be cancelled claiming the temple is poorly run. The final decision to call it off was made at a meeting last night.

The authorities feared the visit could have been marred by a protest.

The Duke was meant to meet people at the centre, including the Bishop of Leicester, who is president of the Leicester Council of Faiths.

Temple general secretary Rashmi Joshi said: "There's been difficulties with certain members of the committee for some time, and it was feared this would impact on the visit.

"Certain members have written to the palace saying that the visit should not go ahead because of concerns they have about how the temple is run.

"The temple is run by volunteers who were very much looking forward to the visit, and they are very sad about this situation.

"I personally am gutted. This is a very sad day for the community."

A police spokesman confirmed that the visit was off, but said that it had not been their decision to cancel it.

A spokesman for the Leicestershire Lieutenancy, the Queen's representative in the county, said they hoped Leicester's faith communities would meet the Duke and the Queen elsewhere during the day.

The visit to the temple was part of a full day of several visits by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh across Leicestershire.