Soldiers to stage homecoming parade in Brighton and Hove

More than 200 soldiers will march through Brighton and Hove having recently returned from combat in Afghanistan.

Many of the soldiers have local connections and will be exercising their regiment’s right to parade having been granted the Freedom of Brighton and Hove.

The Second Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment will parade through the city on Wednesday 22 June from noon.

The regiment will start their match from the Peace Statue at the border of Brighton and Hove before marching along the seafront on their way to New Road.

About 220 soldiers are expected to take part in the 40-minute parade.

The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment has its origins in the Royal Sussex Regiment which was granted the Freedom of Brighton in 1944 and Hove in 1958.

The regiment last exercised its right to march through the town in 1995.

In 1996 it was granted Freedom of Brighton and Hove.

After the march, the battalion will be formally welcomed in New Road by the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex Peter Field, Colonel of the Regiment Brigadier Richard Dennis and the Mayor of Brighton and Hove Councillor Anne Meadows.

The regiment, also known as The Tigers, will present a gift of a silver tiger to the city.

The soldiers and their families will then be invited to a civic reception hosted by Brighton and Hove City Council in the Royal Pavilion gardens.

The mayor said: “I hope residents will come out and line the route to welcome the soldiers and enjoy this rare occasion.

“It promises to be a colourful and uplifting event, with the regimental band playing as the soldiers parade along the seafront.”

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Adam Crawley said: “We are a local regiment with strong links to the communities that we come from.

“We are conducting seven freedom parades across the South East and they are our way of reaffirming those links and showing the local people who we are.”

The event also marks Armed Forces Day, which has been celebrated in Brighton and Hove for the past two years.

Collections will be made during the day for the Army Benevolent Fund – and the regimental flag will be flown from Brighton Town Hall.

Roads along the route will be closed for a short period while the regimental party makes its way along King’s Road, up West Street, down North Street and into New Road.