THE Royal Court has been selected for the 2018 Whitlees Gala, which this year marks its 30th anniversary.

The gala takes place on Sunday, June 24 and will see Stanley Primary’s Megan Hyslop and Leon Munro crowned Queen and King. They will be accompanied by Princesses Abbie Low and Lucie Smith and Princes Alan Brian and Corey Poulton.

But as this year is a significant milestone, the Royal Party will be joined by some special guests.

Julie Gray, chairwoman of Whitlees Gala Committee, said: “We’ve got past gala queens coming. We’ve got them all sashes saying what year they were from and they’ll get crowns.

“We contacted some of them on Facebook, but a lot of them don’t use Facebook and have been difficult to find. We’re looking for princesses as well – any court members in the last 30 years.

“We’ve got three or four girls from the early 90s, some from the early 2000s. We’ve got the last couple of kings since 2016 and all the queens from the last few years.

“We’re also looking for old photos of the gala to make a display on the wall. If anybody’s got any old photos, get in touch.”

Julie gave a taster of what else is in store for the 30th anniversary gala: “We’ve got the pipe band coming to do the parade round the town. On the day we’ve got a Hungry Hippo Men’s Eating Competition.

“We’ve got different activities on throughout and in local shops. Previous queens or courtiers, anyone with old photos, or any businesses that can donate to the the day, a big funfair, all these kinds of things.”

A full programme of events will soon be available at the Whitlees Centrebottle stall, please contact the Whitlees Centre on 01294 461700 or through the Facebook page.