Royal visit from The Earl and Countess of Wessex for Preston this September to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and 20 years as a city

Preston will receive a Royal visit on Wednesday September 7 2022, when The Earl and Countess of Wessex will attend Preston Market, along with Avenham and Miller Parks, as part of the celebration of the Platinum Jubilee and to mark Preston’s 20 years as a city.

As part of The Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002, Preston was granted city status – becoming England’s 50th city during the 50th year of Her Majesty’s reign – recognising Preston’s strong regional significance.

Prince Edward, the Queen’s youngest child, and his wife Sophie Rhys-Jones will be visiting the city twenty years on it what marks a rare but exciting royal visit.

Mayor of Preston, Councillor Neil Darby, said: “We are honoured to be welcoming Their Royal Highnesses, The Earl and Countess of Wessex in September.

“As we continue to celebrate Preston’s 20 years as a city, we are looking forward to The Earl and Countess of Wessex’s visits to Preston Market and two of our beautiful green spaces, Avenham and Miller Parks, which have once again been awarded the Green Flag Award.

“In the year that Her Majesty The Queen celebrates 70 years as our Monarch, and The Queen’s Baton Relay passed through our parks and city centre ahead of the Commonwealth Games, we are delighted that The Earl and Countess of Wessex will be visiting our city, and we look forward to showing them some of Proud Preston’s iconic locations.”

Taking to Twitter, Preston Markets said: “Looking forward to welcoming Their Royal Highnesses to #PrestonMarket”.

Meanwhile Visit Preston wrote: “Ooh, this is exciting!”

Prince Edward is the 14th in line of succession for the British throne, and currently holds patronage within over 70 charities and organisations, with most of his charity work focusing on the arts, athletics, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Edward’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, has visited Preston herself many times throughout her reign, as early as 1949 and as recently as 2008.

You can see images from some of her previous Preston visits here.