THE Duke of York was all smiles at a black-tie dinner attended by civic and business heads in York to raise money for the Millennium Mystery Plays project.

He was guest of honour of the organising board, which is planning a performance of the plays inside the Minster in the year 2000.The Duke agreed to be patron of the plays earlier this year.

In a short speech after dinner at the Treasurer's House, the Duke praised York's community spirit and the thriving co-operation between the public and private sectors.

The Duke also took time to watch a section of one of the plays performed by the Lords of Misrule, a group based at the University of York's medieval studies department.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.