Controversy continues over royal wedding gift idea

West Berkshire organisations continue to be split on the idea of sending a gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton

AS plans for the royal wedding get underway, the decision of whether or not to send a gift to the happy couple has continued to cause some controversy among organisations in West Berkshire.

The Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, Mary Bayliss, recently wrote to local parish councils and Royal British Legion (RBL) branches inviting them to make a contribution to an engraved silver dish for Prince William and Kate Middleton ahead of their wedding in April, splitting the donations between the gift and the Berkshire Community Foundation, which donates to charities across Berkshire.

Last week, Cold Ash Parish Council unanimously rejected the idea on the grounds that taxpayers' money that was spent on a gift would be “wasted”, although other local parish councils said they were considering sending a donation.

This week, the secretary of Newbury RBL, Keith Williams, said that he had forwarded Mrs Bayliss' request onto members, leaving it up to them if they wanted to give a personal donation.

He added: "The thing that bothers me would be if, in this area, £50 was donated, it would just get swallowed up.

"It would not be of any significance."

The chairman of Cold Ash and Hermitage RBL, Michael Spencer, said that legion members spent most of their time and energy raising funds for the Poppy Appeal, to enable them to carry out welfare work for the serving and ex-service community.

He said: "May I suggest instead of a piece of silver, which will probably be bunged in the back of a cupboard - Lakeland syndrome - an engraved glass bowl be commissioned for the storage of the royal apples and pears."

The parish council which serves the nearby village of Upper Bucklebury, where Miss Middleton's family still lives, has said it will be donating towards the fund, but has not yet confirmed what the amount will be.

Chairwoman of Bucklebury Parish Council, Wynne Frankum, said: "We feel that it would be wrong for us not to offer some sort of token, and will be contributing towards the Lord Lieutenants royal wedding gift."

Greenham Parish Council has agreed to donate £100 towards the gift, although councillor Billy Drummond said: "What should happen if they get divorced, who gets it then?”

Newbury mayor, Ian Grose, said that he had contributed a sum of £100 towards the fund, on behalf of the citizens of Newbury, from the mayor's allowance.