The Duke of Edinburgh will return to Methil the Fife town he was once rumoured to have called a “dump”.
Prince Philip, who celebrated his 90th birthday this year, will visit Methil Heritage Centre on July 1 to view its exhibition on the history of shipping in the area.
According to local legend, the royal visitor referred to Methil as a dump when he was posted at Rosyth naval base in 1943.
But in 1995 he wrote to the Methil community to set the record straight and stated he was, “Not quite such a fool as to make such a comment.”
Friends of Methil Heritage secretary Bill Gold was delighted to welcome Prince Philip back to Levenmouth and said his remark had been taken out of context.
“He’d never set foot in Methil and saw it from a distance while he was on the deck of the destroyer HMS Wallace, which was on convoy duty in the Forth,” he said.
“I must admit if you looked at Methil in those days, with the amount of coal and the clattering of the railway wagons, it might have seemed like a terrible place, but he’s explained himself.”
Mr Gold researched the exhibition, titled Methil and the Merchant Marine: The story of shipping in and around Methil.
He contacted Buckingham Palace because he thought the duke might want to visit, given his interest in shipping.’Good publicity'”What we expected was a letter to say thanks very much for the invitation but no thanks, and we were surprised when his secretary phoned to say he was going,” he said.
“It’s good publicity for the centre you can’t buy that sort of publicity. The council are delighted, so much so that they’ve actually repainted part of it.”
It will be Prince Philip’s second visit to the centre. He last visited in 1996, shortly before it hit a funding crisis.
The duke stepped in to offer support in 1997, when he wrote a letter expressing disappointment that “such a lively, community-based project” faced the axe.
He said in his letter, “Not only does it foster local pride, but it is helping to preserve and present the important involvement of Methil in the great period of British industrial development at the turn of the century.”
The centre’s future was secured in 1998 when Fife Council took over its management.
Prince Philip will be accompanied on the visit by the Lord Lieutenant of Fife, Margaret Dean, and will meet the Friends of Methil Heritage, council staff and councillors. He will be welcomed at the door by sea cadets.
Council museums team leader Margaret Nikolic said, “We’re really honoured.”
Methil and the Merchant Marine runs until August 27. It tells the story of the ports in and around Levenmouth, and looks back at a time when Britain’s merchant fleet was the largest in the world.
At one point Methil shipped out over three million tons of coal annually, as well as handling imported goods such as flax and wool.
Councillor Andrew Rodger added, “The people at Methil Heritage Centre have worked well over the years to keep it viable. There have been so many cuts over the years and this is one of the areas that suffers first, but there are lots of voluntary workers in there.”