A school in Trowbridge has been given a tree which once stood outside Buckingham Palace in honour of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll.

The John of Gaunt School in Trowbridge was presented with the first of three special trees gifted to Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council in honour of the queen.

Trees were gifted as part of the Platinum Jubilee weekend celebrations to 300 organisations across the UK by the tree planting initiative created to mark the Jubilee, The Queen’s Green Canopy.

These trees come from the Tree of Trees sculpture Designed by Thomas Heatherwick which was made to celebrate Her Majesty, who planted over 1,500 trees all over the world throughout her 70-year reign.

They are gifted in The Queen’s name in a pot embossed with Her Late Majesty’s cypher.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Rose Troughton, presented the Betula Pendula tree also known as a Weeping Birch.

Mrs Troughton said: “I am incredibly proud to be part of this project to honour Her Late Majesty in our county.

"We have three very worthy recipients and I was delighted to present John of Gaunt School with their tree, and I know it will be well looked after and cherished for many years to come by the whole community.

“I look forward to the further planting ceremonies over the coming weeks and am moved by the thought of the lasting living legacy that is being created in Her late Majesty’s name in Wiltshire.”

Matthew Woodville, Headteacher of John of Gaunt School, said: “We are both proud and humbled that The John of Gaunt School was selected as one of the recipients of the three trees destined for Wiltshire.

"This tree will serve as a message of hope and optimism not only to our school, but to our local community of Trowbridge as it becomes part of the living legacy in honour of Her Majesty.”

In addition to the John of Gaunt School, other Wiltshire recipients are the volunteers from Swindon's vaccination programme, and The Harnham Water Meadows Trust in Salisbury. 

Two further ceremonies will take place later this autumn that will see Mrs Troughton, present them with their trees.

The trees are said to stand for hope, regeneration and optimism and are part of a million trees already planted across the UK as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy in honour of Her Majesty.