A FORMER Stourbridge councillor has told of her sadness at the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh whom she turned out to watch as a little girl when he and Her Majesty The Queen visited Mary Stevens Park as part of a Royal tour of the region.

Heather Rogers remembers that day in 1957 vividly.

The former Conservative turned independent councillor, who stood down in 2019, said news of Prince Philip's death had taken her "totally by surprise".

A strong supporter of the Royals, she was lucky enough to see the Prince and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II when they visited Stourbridge and took a tour in an open top Landrover in Mary Stevens Park in 1957.

Aged just around 12 at the time and a pupil at Stourbridge Girls' High School, Mrs Rogers recalled: "They went down the main drive and round the bandstand. I was standing at the main gates. We'd walked down from the high school. "We were given little flags to wave. It was absolutely packed, the park was. Then they went to see the glass exhibits in the council house.

"Everybody got a really good view of them. I remember it vividly as though it was yesterday."

She said she was "very sad" to hear of the Duke's death at Windsor Castle early this morning and said: "I would have liked him to reach 100.

"He's been a real support to the Queen and the country.

"He's been a very dominant figure but he hasn't outshone the Queen. He's done everything and more that was asked of him.

"He did a great job with the Duke of Edinburgh award and the World Wildlife Fund."

She said there remains to this day in the park, in Queen's Drive, a flower trough commemorating the visit by the Duke and The Queen. There is also a picture of the visit in the coffee shop in the park.

During the visit the Royal couple stepped inside the Council House in the Norton park to view a prized glass collection.

They also visited Dudley, Brierley Hill and Hagley that same day.