Prince William to open Darwin centre

Prince William will open the new £78 million Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum today.

The royal, joined by TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough, will tour the landmark project in central London which houses new state of the art scientific research and storage facilities.

The centre features an eight-storey 'cocoon' housing 17 million insect specimens and three million plant specimens as its focal point.

Visitors can take part in a cocoon tour where they will be able to see scientists at work in new laboratories as well as get involved with hands-on activities.

The new centre also houses the Attenborough Studio, named after the TV naturalist, and a 35 square-yard (30 sq metres) collage of interactive screens called the Climate Change Wall, educating the public about global warming.

The studio will also act as a centre to house museum specimens, natural history film footage and provide opportunities for the public to learn about natural history.

The centre, the biggest development at the museum since it opened in 1881, will have the capacity to be used by more than 200 scientists at a time and opens to the public tomorrow.