Prince Andrew takes a stroll at York parade

10:45am Monday 24th September 2007

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HUNDREDS of people packed the streets of York as Prince Andrew visited the city for a special military parade.

The Duke of York attended a service at the Minster on Saturday, to formally mark the formation of the Yorkshire Regiment.

Enthusiastic residents and tourists gathered in nearby streets to watch the parade of soldiers and to catch a glimpse of the popular Royal.

The Duke, who is Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment, gave a reading at the Minster and was invited to sign the church's visitors' book.

Army press officer Sean Edmunds said: "The event went extremely well, and afterwards he Andrew went on an impromptu walk-about to meet and greet the crowds. There were hundreds and hundreds there."

The Yorkshire Regiment was formed in June of last year, and Mr Edmunds said it had had a very busy first 15 months.

He said: "The Prince of Wales's 1st Battalion has already been over to Iraq, and the Green Howards 2nd Battalion is currently deployed in Afghanistan."

He added: "This was a fantastic opportunity for the Yorkshire Regiment to celebrate its formation and exercise its freedom of the city of York, and to get some recognition from the hundreds of people who turned out to watch the parade."

Aside from active military service, the Regiment has also build an impressive array of silverware in the year or so since its formation, with trophies for rugby, football, running and Nordic skiing all won.

The Regiment was also runner-up in the Army's inter-unit boxing competition.

Saturday's parade was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Jackson of the 1st Battalion, which has just returned from its operational tour of Iraq.