As it was announced that Prince Philip was to retire from public duties this week, we have taken a look at some of the many tines the Duke visited the Burton area. The Duke of Edinburgh is no stranger to visiting Burton with the prince often captured at the area's landmark companies – be it breweries or Marmite.
His first visit to this area was on Thursday, March 28, 1957, and encompassed a lengthy 23-mile Royal route from Sudbury Station to its termination at the famous archway of Repton School. This visit to Burton was history in the making as Her Majesty became the first reigning Queen to grace the town with her presence.
After stepping off the Royal train, the Queen and Prince Philip were greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of Stafford, Mr H Wallace-Copland, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Dr Charles Hill, while the two station waiting rooms were filled to the rafters with flowers.
After miles of country lanes and residential streets, the Royal party finally arrived at the town hall in King Edward Place. A guard of honour was formed as the obligatory visitors' book and portrait were signed before the Queen and Prince Philip made their way to the town hall balcony to wave to the throngs of supporters.
During the Queen's visit in 1957, time was taken to plant a tiny horse chestnut sapling on The Green at Tutbury Castle. Her Royal Highness joked that she was unlucky with planting trees and said with a chuckle: "I don't appear to have very green fingers."
While the Queen's next visit to the area was in 1982, she travelled without the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip. The Duke's next visit to the area was in December 1995 when along with Her Majesty the Queen, the Royals marked the golden jubilee of digger giant JCB at its Rocester headquarters.
Arriving in separate cars, the Duke arrived before Her Majesty the Queen and was greeted by Sir Anthony Bamford, the company's chairman and managing director.
The Duke was then given a tour of the foyer of the Rocester headquarters and was shown the production lines of the loading shovel and JCB Loadall models. Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip later regrouped to tour the office area of the headquarters alongside Sir Anthony Bamford, chief executive Martin Coyne and the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire James Hawley.
After lunch, the Queen and Duke travelled together by car to the replica garage at Hollington Road where an anniversary plaque was unveiled in front of 100 former JCB employees.
At around 3pm, 20 minutes behind schedule, the Royal party left for Burton. While the Queen officially opened the town's £34 million hospital complex, the Duke of Edinburgh went to the Carlsberg Tetley Brewery at Station Street.
The Duke is known to be a fan of the beer Double Diamond and so a trip to Burton for the Duke would not have been complete without a visit to see where it was brewed. The Duke arrived at the Samuel Allsopp Brewery - a brewery within a brewery – where he was greeted by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire Lieutenant Colonel David German.
The Duke was escorted to the famous Allsopp brewhouse where he was introduced to head brewer Peter Sunderland. It was here that the Duke was shown the Samuel Allsopp brewing log of 1935 which listed the grandfather of the Double Diamond beer.
The brewery was in the process of brewing a special Royal Diamond ale to mark the Royal visit and it was here that Peter Sunderland discovered Prince Philip's dry sense of humour. When asked if he would like to add the hops to the brew, the Duke of Edinburgh said: "You're paid to do it, you should put it in."
Brewery insiders said that the Duke did not taste any Double Diamond beer during his visit despite being offered a sample. Instead he opted to taste Draught Burton Ale and Skol lager.
However, in May 2016, the Duke of Edinburgh was sent two bottles of Dual Diamond – a beer brewed by the town's Old Cottage Brewing Company to mark the launch of a book on the Ind Coope brewery.
The Royal's next visit to the town was on July 3, 2002, and was part of the golden jubilee celebrations. Cheering crowds lined every yard of the Royal party's route as they drove slowly from the railway station via Station Street, Union Street and New Street to the Abbey Gardens, where Her Majesty met civic heads and tenants from her Duchy of Lancaster estate before unveiling a commemorative plaque and planting a lime tree to mark her visit.
The year 2002 was a special year for all involved as it also marked the 1,000th anniversary of brewing in the town and the 25th anniversary of the Bass Museum opening.
The town's breweries always support the Royal Family with special commemorative brews and 2002 was no exception with the Queen and Prince Philip starting the mashing process for their own Royal Ale before Prince Philip gave one of the famous Bass shire horses a bucket of ale to slurp.
To enable The Queen and Prince Philip to see as much of the town as they could, they went their separate ways midway through the tour with the Queen heading to the Brewhouse arts centre in Union Street and the Duke to the Marmite factory in Wellington Road.
Upon arriving at Unilever-Best Foods, which also manufactures Bovril, His Royal Highness was treated to a warm reception in one of the plant's conference rooms, where he was introduced to a bevy of senior staff, retired employees and members of the public.
The Royal was greeted by Deputy Mayor of East Staffordshire Tom Dawn and his wife, chairman of Unilever, Richard Greenhaulgh, chairman of Unilever Best Foods UK, Gavin Neath, and plant manager of Unilever Best Foods Burton, Mark Wearing.
Among those presented to the Duke were retired employees noted for their many years of service to the company. These included Reginald Hunt and Dennis Ford, who had worked for the company for 51 and 50 years respectively.
During the reception, the Duke saw a collection of Marmite memorabilia and was invited to view a one-minute promotional video for the product. His Royal Highness was also invited to unveil a plaque commemorating Marmite's centenary. First port of call on the Duke's tour of the plant was the tasting department.
During this time, the Royal was given a demonstration of the tasting procedure by various members of staff who sipped a pure liquid form of Marmite before completing forms for analysis. As he watched, the Duke commented: "Do you ever get sick of the taste at all?"
Microbiology technician Shaun McGauran, who was one of the tasters, told the Prince they did not tire of it as tasting was a not a full-time occupation. Before leaving to rejoin The Queen at the National Arboretum in Alrewas, the Duke was shown the plant's outdoor peat and heather filter.
In November 2016, the Duke of Edinburgh has unveiled a £20,000 monument dedicated to badly injured and burned servicemen and women who are part of the Guinea Pig Club at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Alrewas.
The Duke, president of the Guinea Pig Club, met surviving members of the organisation and their guests in the arboretum's Remembrance Centre as part of a service at which the monument to the club was dedicated.
