In photos: ship shape and Bristol fashion

Yesterday, Bristol welcomed the company of the HMS Prince of Wales (R09) for a parade in our city centre. Around 300 Royal Navy personnel marched through Bristol, led by the Royal Marines Band, cheered by crowds.

A crowd is pictured, behind metal barriers, on College Green. Many are holding phones and cameras. Trees and part of Bristol Cathedral can be seen in the background.

Royal Navy personnel are pictured on College Green. One group of three (left) includes someone holding a flag. The second (right) are marching in a larger group. Trees and part of City Hall can be seen in the background.

The Royal Marines Band are pictured, holding their instruments, with Royal Navy personnel pictured in the background with City Hall behind.

The Royal Marines Band is pictured alongside College Green. They are holding various instruments, including drums, and buildings and trees can be seen behind them.

The Queen-Elizabeth class, fifth generation aircraft carrier has been affiliated with Bristol since 2016, an honour shared with our fellow port city of Liverpool. Since then, I have been lucky to visit the ship in Rosyth, Scotland, as part of the half-century relationship between ship and city which sees the ship’s crest displayed in the foyer of City Hall.

The crest of HMS Prince of Wales is pictured on the wall of the foyer at City Hall in Bristol.

A member of the Royal Navy is pictured, looking out at College Green. Large Union Flags can be seen, with a crowd beginning to form.

Royal Navy personnel are pictured, standing in rows, with College Green behind them.

Royal Navy personnel are pictured, standing in rows, looking out over College Green, which can be seen in the background.

Royal Navy personnel are pictured, assembled on the ramps outside City Hall (left), alongside the ornamental lake and large Union Flags (right).

In March, we awarded the HMS Prince of Wales and its company with Freedom of the City. This, the highest civic award we can bestow, gives military units the right to parade “with drums beating, colours flying, and bayonets fixed”.

The Council Chamber in City Hall, Bristol, is pictured during the Freedom of the City ceremony for HMS Prince of Wales (R09). Councillor Helen Holland, Bristol City Council’s Armed Forces Champion, is speaking, stood up, from the Labour benches on the left of the image. Other councillors can be seen seated.

A member of the Royal Marines Band is pictured, with their music sheet visible. Other members of the band can be seen, with large Union Flags and a crowd on College Green in the background.

A member of the Royal Marines Band is pictured, standing. Royal Navy personnel can be seen, with large Union Flags and a crowd on College Green, in the background.

Royal Navy personnel from the HMS Prince of Wales are pictured, assembled on College Green in Bristol. One (centre) is carrying a sword. The others are holding guns, with bayonets fixed. More Royal Navy personnel can be in the background, behind large Union Flags, on the ramps in front of City Hall.

The Royal Marines Band are pictured, marching, with a crowd, large Union Flags and City Hall behind them.

This weekend they assembled on the ramps of City Hall and on College Green, which was decked out with large Union Flags as during His Majesty King Charles III’s Proclamation last September. We then saw a rare civic occasion in that parade. It was another perfect chance to celebrate our the Armed Forces who serve our country. Many of the ship’s company are from the wider south west region so, in many ways, this was a homecoming before the aircraft carrier returns to full service later this year.

Royal Navy personnel are pictured. One (left) is holding a box, with more seen in groups in the background in front of City Hall.

Three people are pictured on a dais, with a crowd on College Green behind them. Councillor Paul Goggin is seen in the Lord Mayor's robes (centre), with Captain Richard Hewitt from the HMS Prince of Wales to his right.

Councillor Paul Goggin, Lord Mayor of Bristol, is pictured, alongside Captain Richard Hewitt from HMS Prince of Wales, speaking with Royal Navy personnel assembled on College Green. Trees, large Union Flags, and more Royal Navy personnel can be seen in the background.

Councillor Paul Goggin, Lord Mayor of Bristol, is pictured, speaking with members of the Royal Marines Band assembled on College Green. Royal Navy personnel can be seen in the background, in front of City Hall, as well as the City Sword Bearer (right).

Royal Navy personnel (centre) are pictured, marching down Deanery Road, into the distance, with people taking photos on either side.

I was proud to welcome Captain Richard Hewitt OBE as part of our city’s civic party, which was led by Councillor Paul Goggin, the Right Honourable Lord Mayor of the City and County of Bristol, and Robert Bourns DL, the Vice Lord Lieutenant. Alongside us on the daises on College Green and, on the parade route, opposite the Hippodrome to take the salute were: Councillor Helen Holland, our Armed Forces Champion and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and the Integrated Care System; the City Sword Bearer; Royal Marines Brigadier Jock Fraser MBE ADC, Naval Regional Commander for Wales and Western England, based at HMS Flying Fox, the Royal Naval Reserve Unit on Winterstoke Road in south Bristol; and Colonel Jane Thompson TD DL PhD APFS, Deputy Lieutenant for the County and City of Bristol and the first woman to command the Bristol City and County Army Cadet Force.