Bexhill's Royal show

THE Royal fervour generated by the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations was rekindled in Bexhill yesterday (Thursday) as the town put out the welcome mat for the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Loud cheers and vigorous flag-waving greeted Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, as they arrived at the De La Warr Pavilion by car to officially name and open a path, the Diamond Jubilee Walk, on the nearby Metropole Lawn.

The couple also visited the Grade II listed Colonnade, a seafront landmark built to mark the coronation of Prince Edward’s great-grandfather, George V, in 1910 and recently renovated as part of Bexhill’s £5.6 million Next Wave project to rejuvenate West Parade.

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And Bexhill Rowing Club was able to show the Earl and Countess its new base - another aspect of the work carried out - as they moved waving and smiling through the crowds who had turned out to see them, including many local schoolchildren encountering Royalty for the first time.

Prince Edward, 48, wore a dark blue suit while his wife, now 47, looked stunning in a simple beige summer dress, with a matching handbag, white watch and stiletto shoes.

Greeted formally in the foyer of the De La Warr Pavilion by VIPS including the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, Peter Field; Cllr Joy Hughes, chairman of Rother District Council, and Cllr Joanne Gadd, the Mayor of Bexhill, the couple then stepped out into glorious sunshine.

Youngsters who had been happily anticipating their arrival gave a huge cheer and transformed themselves into a flurry of red, white and blue as they waved Union flags for all they were worth.

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Tia, Leah, Jadan and Sammy, from Sidley Primary School - soon to become Glenleigh Park Academy - were among the first to greet the Royal couple as they began a walkabout notable for its informality and leisurely pace, the Earl and Countess talking separately and at random to spectators.

Pat Strickson, headteacher, said: “The Earl asked the children if they were looking forward to the summer holidays and they all shouted ‘yes!”. He then asked a few parents the same question and raised a laugh when they looked at him and groaned ‘No!’ It was a lovely moment.”

Jean Chok-Nee and her son, Adrian, from Maidstone, Kent, were in Bexhill flat-hunting when a police officer told them about the Royal visit. They decided to look in on the event and were delighted when the Countess stopped to chat to them.

Adrian, who had bought a flag each for he and his mother, said: “I told her that the last time I had waved a Union Jack was at the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 when I was still a child.”

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At Bexhill Rowing Club, which had sent crews and canoes out on the water in honour of the visit, president Gerald Matthews and three of the club’s team - Phil and Nic McCorry, and Matt Hellier - which won the first ever Indian Ocean Row, told Prince Edward about their experiences.

Bexhill’s Classic Cycle Group were turned out with their vintage costumes and cycles - including tuppen-ha’pence worth of penny-farthings - and nearby, two to four-year-olds from Little Common Playgroup enchanted the Countess by singing a nursery rhyme for her.

She bent down to try on a pair of sunglasses offered to her by one youngster, and early years manager Julie Webster said: “Perhaps it’s because she’s got two children herself, but she was absolutely brilliant with them.”

Once arrived at the new path, Prince Edward encouraged everyone to shout out “one-two-three” before he and his wife removed a Royal blue cloth to reveal a plaque set in the surface to record their visit.

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Here they were helped by Ryan Jegal, of Little Common School, and Matilda Richardson, of Battle Abbey preparatory school, while nine-year-old Jess Harrison, from Pebsham primary school, was chosen by lot to present the Countess with a posy of flowers.

As they bade farewell to Bexhill, leaving in a Daimler limousine with police outriders, the Royal couple were bound for its neighbouring resort of Eastbourne, where they were due to officially name its new £2.7 million all-weather lifeboat, Diamond Jubilee, at Sovereign Harbour.

On Wednesday this week the Earl and Countess were in Brighton to open a new Diamond Jubilee Pavilion at Brighton College.

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