Arise, Royal Wootton Bassett

By Ben Wright
Published on Monday 17 October 2011 10:37

The Princess Royal has paid tribute to Royal Wootton Bassett, as she officially bestowed the new name on the town.

She delivered the Letters Patent on behalf of the Queen, recognising the community’s role in honouring members of the armed forces who died on service abroad.

Prime Minister David Cameron also attended the renaming ceremony, joined by his new Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, making his first public appearance since taking over the role from Liam Fox.

The princess told those assembled in the town’s High Street, which has become synonymous with the repatriation of fallen servicemen and women, that they had “set an example that others wanted to follow”.

She said: “This community has come together in the most extraordinary way.”

Wootton Bassett is the first to be awarded the “Royal” accolade in more than a century. The last town to be given royal status was Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, in 1909.

The Princess Royal said it was a “town rich in tradition and secure in its sense of values”.

She added: “I am privileged to be allowed to add my thanks to those of Her Majesty the Queen and the whole country for the example you set in respecting with dignity the losses that this country’s operational responsibilities have forced upon us.”

The decision to award the town with the royal prefix was the Queen’s, following a petition from the Prime Minister.

The town became famous as thousands of people began to turn out to pay their respects to the fallen servicemen and women who died in Iraq and Afghanistan who had been repatriated at nearby RAF Lyneham, starting in April 2007.

Wootton Bassett’s role ceased at the end of August, when the base for repatriations moved to RAF Brize Norton, with the town of Carterton taking over as the place for grieving families and members of the public to pay their respects.

Royal Wootton Bassett’s mayor, Paul Heaphy, said: “The royal status is a privilege, yet it is received with sadness, mindful of the high price paid by our armed forces.

“This is not a day for celebration, but one for commemoration, one of recognition and one to mark the beginning of a new chapter for our town.

“We did not ask for recognition and we find the attention rather humbling.”

Mr Heaphy expressed a hope that those seeing the town’s new road signs “will pause and remember why we are Royal and, in doing so, remember the brave men and women of our forces”.

The commemoration included parades by representatives from the armed forces, accompanied by the Wootton Bassett Band.

The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, Collingwood, also took part, marching to a piece of music entitled Wootton Bassett, written by Captain Pete Curtis, a Royal Marines director of music.

The flag bearer broke the new Royal Wootton Bassett flag, a ceremonial and historic moment when the new flag is raised for the first time, before the town’s new coat of arms was blessed by Canon Thomas Woodhouse.

There were flypasts from aircraft linked to RAF Lyneham – the Hercules, Globemaster and a Vulcan bomber.

Former Wootton Bassett mayor Steve Bucknell led a minute’s silence at the start of the event to remember the servicemen and women who have lost their lives, and also in honour of those still serving overseas.

The Ministry of Defence contributed to the cost of the cele-brations with a £10,000 grant.

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• Wootton Bassett's heartfelt silent tribute along its Highway of Heroes

  WOOTTON Bassett has become synonymous with honouring Britain's returning dead since RAF Lyneham, three miles from the Wiltshire town, took over repatriation duties from RAF Brize Norton in 2007.

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