EACH member of the Royal Family will be asked to support the York Minster restoration appeal.

The pledge came during a flying visit to the city by the Duke of York to promote the latest scheme to help restore the historic cathedral to its former glory.

Watched by pupils from the Minster School, he carved his initial into a stone which he has donated to the project, and said he would be bringing his daughters - Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - to York to do the same.

He said: "I shall be going home and persuading the rest of my family to join in, so you can start allocating the stones now. I shall try and get Beatrice and Eugenie to come and have a go at this as well."

The Duke was in the city to launch the Sponsor A Stone scheme, which will allow people to pay for a new stone - costing £600 each - to be installed in the crumbling eastern end of the Minster.

He said: "I am delighted to donate the first stone in the project, and will closely follow the scheme as it progresses.

"It is my hope that businesses and clubs, as well as individuals, will sign up to the scheme and spread the word through the city and county and beyond."

The Minster needs £23 million to pay for the renovation of its East Front and another £7 million to safeguard the long-term future of its choir, library and educational activities.

On Saturday, the Evening Press revealed that £500,000 had been donated in cash and more than £2.5 million had been pledged since the appeal was launched in March.

The Dean of York, the Very Rev Keith Jones, said: "The good thing about this is that is enables all sorts of people to come together and it all helps.

"Of course we need giant sums because it is a giant project, but there is room for similar sums like this."

The Duke had spent the morning at RAF Leeming, where he learned to fly during his military service, to open a new library at the base's primary school.

He also visited RAF Linton-on-Ouse to honour award-winning community groups in the region.

He handed out prizes to projects in Yorkshire and the Humber that have won The Duke of York's Community Initiative Award for their community spirit.

Updated: 10:03 Thursday, December 08, 2005