CHELMSFORD welcomes Princess Anne to celebrate its new status as a city.
Touching down by helicopter at Hylands House, HRH Princess Royal met the great and the good of Chelmsford on Thursday to mark the official announcement in March.
The Chronicle has been campaigning for a royal visit ever since Chelmsford, along with Perth and St Asaph, became Britain's 64th, 65th and 66th cities to honour the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
More than 1,000 readers signed our petition and 500 primary school children sent letters to Buckingham Palace urging the Royal Family to make the short trip to Essex to recognise the achievement.
Upon her arrival, Princess Anne, escorted by Lord Petre, the Queen's Royal representative in Essex, met 74 dignitaries, business leaders and the Chronicle's editor, Paul Dent-Jones.
"She was very good and well briefed and asked a lot of questions about what city status means to Chelmsford," said city council leader Roy Whitehead.
And according to Mr Whitehead, city status means new jobs and a confidence in the local economy.
"After years of sitting dormant, the former Marconi factory in New Street has been purchased and will be developed into new homes and offices," he said.
"The university is expanding, Amlin is creating 300 new jobs, John Lewis is coming and has upgraded their plans to a full store and the railway station is going to be improved."
Furthermore, the council is more optimistic than ever that the derelict gasworks site, opposite the Meadows on the other side of High Bridge Road, will be transformed by a developer.
"Chelmsford is creating a real buzz at the moment and I think city status is certainly helping," Cllr Whitehead added.
As well as dignitaries, the Princess met the City Council's bid team to see how Chelmsford saw off favourites Middlesbrough, Bournemouth and Reading, and county rivals Southend-on-Sea and Colchester.
The Mayor of Chelmsford, Cllr Christopher Kingsley, who escorted Princess Anne as she talked to local people at Hylands House before signing the visitors' book, said city status was similar to achieving a university degree or diploma.
Addressing the room, Princess Anne said: "City is an old title but applying to Chelmsford it's very much a title with a future and I think that is why you were so successful.
"I wish you well as the city of Chelmsford."
Cllr Kingsley said: "It's not so much the name but what the community had to do to get there.
"A number of people have worked very hard over a number of years to produce a community that is worthy of city status.
"But we are not going to stand still, times are still difficult and we will do all we can to attract investment and create jobs in Chelmsford."
The council and Anglia Ruskin University have already announced plans to build a 50-acre hi-tech business campus between Chelmsford and Broomfield Hospital, similar to those in California's Silicon Valley, which will create four thousand new jobs.
Professor Michael Thorne, vice chancellor, said: "The city of Chelmsford's prime location, just 30 minutes from London but also within easy reach of open countryside, is a major draw for our students."
