IN MARCH 1951 large numbers of people, including hundreds of schoolchildren, took to the streets of Cirencester to watch Princess Elizabeth passing though the streets on her way to Cheltenham, the Wilts and Glos Standard reported.
Crowds began to line the Royal route an hour before the Princess’s car was due to arrive and by the time her party drove through the Market Place many shop assistants and office workers had joined them.
“Many residents watched from their windows and flags were displayed everywhere,” the paper reported.
Seven cars in the procession drove slowly through Castle Street, The Market Place, Dyer Street and on to the Cheltenham Road. “Princess Elizabeth could be seen quite clearly, smiling and waving to the crowds,” the paper wrote.
The Princess, who was wearing a maroon coat and hat with shoes to match, travelled to Kemble in her own special carriage attached to the normal service from Paddington.
Soon after leaving the station on the journey in Cirencester, the Princess was able to see a meet of the V.W.H. (Earl Bathurst’s) hounds in a nearby field.
Once in Cheltenham the Princess visited Cheltenham College, the site of the Hester’s Way development scheme and Dean Close School.
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