Duke of Cambridge to visit Milton Keynes for MK50 celebrations

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, will be visiting Milton Keynes later this month as part of the city's 50th anniversary celebrations.
The Duke of Cambridge will visit Milton Keynes later this monthThe Duke of Cambridge will visit Milton Keynes later this month
The Duke of Cambridge will visit Milton Keynes later this month

His Royal Highness will meet a number of community leaders before joining a ceremony at the Milton Keynes Rose in Campbell Park on September 26 to commemorate Milton Keynes’ fiftieth anniversary, at which The Duke will make a short speech before unveiling a pillar to celebrate the city’s founders in the early afternoon.

The Milton Keynes Rose features a calendar of days important to local people represented by 105 pillars arranged in the geometric design of a flower.

The Duke will also attend a festival zone in the park showcasing the city’s innovations, diverse communities, cultural aspirations and green heritage.

Residents are welcome in Campbell Park on a first come, first serve basis, and around 1,200 public viewing spaces will be available at the Milton Keynes Rose including a dedicated area for wheelchair users (also on a first come, first serve basis).

The Milton Keynes Rose viewing area opens at 8am and will be wristband controlled. Security searches will be in place. Wristbands will be available from 7am at the park entrance closest to the the centre:mk (over the bridge).

A second public area slightly further from the Milton Keynes Rose (not wristband controlled) will have capacity for an additional 2,000 people.

The Mayor of Milton Keynes, Councillor David Hopkins, and Milton Keynes Council chief executive Carole Mills will greet The Duke on his arrival at the festival zone.

Mayor David Hopkins said: "We’re incredibly proud of the progress made by Milton Keynes in its first fifty years and we’re delighted His Royal Highness will get to see some of our achievements first hand, and meet Milton Keynes people, during our special year.

"A city that started as the dream of politicians and planners in the late 1960s is now the most successful part of the new towns movement and a cultural artefact in its own right.

"Milton Keynes’ founders used their ambition, creativity, dedication and community spirit to shape and animate our ‘Amazing MK’, and we’re honoured that The Duke will unveil the newly dedicated Founders’ Pillar.”

The Duke's wife - Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge - visited Bletchley Park in June 2014, while William's grandmother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited Milton Keynes in 2007 to mark its 40th anniversary, opening stadiummk, The Hub, and the St John’s Ambulance Centre at Greenleys.

In 1979 Her Majesty opened the Civic Offices in Milton Keynes. Photographs from both years will be on display at the event.