Marlborough is to have a royal visit – to unveil a huge hand-painted mosaic of the town’s history to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee year.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will be here on October 19 at the invitation of the Mayor, Edwina Fogg, who has been working behind the scenes for months to organise the event, which will also link up with its sister town of Marlborough, New Zealand.
“It’s all been touch and go, but it’s happening and I am really delighted,” Edwina told Marlborough News Online. “I’ve had to keep everything very secret until the Duchess’s visit became official on Friday.”
“I am very pleased that we are going to have a permanent jubilee memorial of Marlborough, which will hang in the Court Room at the town hall, and that it is going to have a royal unveiling on the town hall steps.”
“It’s going to be a great day for Marlborough and a wonderful moment for me in my mayoral year.”
The Mayor announced at her election in May that a sponsored mural of the town – it will show off all its major buildings and its famous High Street – was being created by Marlborough Tiles, whose hand-painted tiles have won it admiration by owners and collectors.
She has also been in contact with Marlborough, New Zealand, which sent its Swiftsure whaler and crew to London to take part in the Queen’s jubilee pageant down the Thames. The crew was due to visit Marlborough at the time but it unfortunately failed to happen.
Now the giant steering oar from the boat is on its way to Marlborough to become a permanent fixture in the town hall. And it is that too that the Duchess of Cornwall is keen to admire as she and Prince Charles are due to visit New Zealand.
Marlborough’s ceremonial officer David Sherratt suggested using the oar as a way to promote Marlborough, New Zealand, in Wiltshire and the act as a link between the two countries.
Alistair Sowman, mayor of Marlborough, New Zealand, has said the oar would be a fitting reminder in England of what Swiftsure boat builder Ron Perano and the rowing crew from Marlborough Boys’ College achieved, rowing the only New Zealand-made boat in the royal regatta.
The oar was sent on September 21 but there is worrying speculation whether it will arrive in time for the visit of the Duchess of Cornwall.
“It may take weeks to get here and then be held up in customs,” said Edwina. “I have written to the New Zealand High Commissioner in London to ask if he will receive the oar when it finally arrives here in Marlborough and I am awaiting his reply.”