A royal visit to Cheltenham became a major event for the Gloucestershire Echo in Cheltenham when editor Anita Syvret was asked to take a leading role in the Queen’s walkabout.
An Echo marquee was set up in the town’s main shopping promenade.
Syvret was presented to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, and was asked to present 30 guests made up of local entrepreneurs.
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Echo-branded Union flags were given away through the street sellers, which turned the Cheltenham Prom into a sea of patriotic Echo readers.
“More than 1,000 people turned up for an event that had Gloucestershire Echo written all over it,” said Syvret.
“I had this nightmare that I’d be standing on my own in the Prom, waving like a lunatic at HM and none of our readers would turn up. But at the end of the day, I was proud to see the Echo at the heart of such an important event for the town.”
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The Echo produced a late final on the day of the visit, 14 pages of words and pictures the day after, and a 24-page colour supplement four days later when sales figures were up 9 per cent on the previous week.
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