Stratford man John Webb will be a guest at King Charles III’s coronation
FORMER soldier, John Webb from Stratford, is off to London to see the King as one of the select few invited to Westminster Abbey as a guest at the coronation.
He feels extremely honoured to be among the 2,000 people in the abbey for the coronation of King Charles III on 6th May where he will be an ambassador for the Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
“I’m a kid from Wellesbourne who remembers taking part in a three-legged race on the village green for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. I am absolutely humbled because I’ve never been top of anyone’s list before,” said John, aged 53.
His joy at receiving his invite from Buckingham Palace last Thursday - which he asked his neighbour to open and read because he was so nervous - is set against a huge personal heartbreak after losing his partner to cancer. He continues to raise a young family and struggled with mental health issues.
Lockdown was a nightmare for the nation and John knows he will remember it forever.
On 18th February 2020 John turned 50. Later that month he and his partner of 19 years, Fiona, received the devastating news she only had days to live and she died of cancer in Myton Hospice in Warwick in early March; she was 49.
Fiona was a street pastor in Stratford and waged a courageous battle against the disease convinced she would recover for all the family which included the children, Charlie, 15, Alice 13 and Jack aged nine.
“We were living in Meon Vale and Fiona wanted to be at home so we had a hospital bed in the house. Once I kissed her on the lips as she was lying in the bed and gave her some words of encouragement and love and she opened her eyes but after she died we then had the pandemic and the fall out for us was absolutely horrific. The children had lost their mum and I’d lost my partner. We had to arrange home schooling and because of lockdown the hospital bed stayed by the window where she would try and rest it was like living in a shrine and there were reminders of Fiona everywhere you looked – it was hard. With Covid you couldn’t do anything and you couldn’t go anywhere so everything was magnified in our lives,” John said.
His army career saw him serve for five years with the Royal Engineers but at no stage during this time did he experience any mental wellbeing issues, it was only after he lost his partner and had to raise a young family and also deal with Covid that darkness crept into his life.
“I wore a clown’s mask when I went out. I struggled on a daily basis. I needed psychological help because I was in a dark place so I ‘phoned the national help line for the Royal British Legion and they were amazing,” said John.
The support from the Legion was re-assuring and constant and it inspired him to steadily move forward with the children. Eventually he was asked to become an ambassador for the charity and last year he was one of the faces of the national Poppy Appeal and featured in a special edition of the Poppy magazine.
“I certainly wanted to help people with mental health issues as much as I could and will continue to do so. Then I got a quirky request and was asked by the Royal British Legion if I wanted to attend a coronation and I said I only knew of one coronation and it was confirmed I would attend the King’s coronation on behalf of the Legion and the MOD. It was amazing I couldn’t contain myself,” he said.
John and his family have now moved to Stratford and he’s all set for the big day in London.
“The train tickets are booked. I’m staying at a hotel near Marble Arch the night before I’m going to keep all the cuttings and pictures and turn them into a family heirloom. This whole thing has taught me to never give in. I’m going into a room with the lights switched on – this is a happy story and it’s going to get happier. When I go to the coronation I’m going somewhere even the Beckhams aren’t going,” John said.
