Canterbury celebrates as Queen visits high street

She was there to unveil a statue of pioneering playwright Aphra Behn.   Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00It may have been grey skies above Canterbury, but even they couldn't put a dampener on a

00:05royal welcome home for a literary pioneer.

00:09Aphra Behn was the first professional female writer in the English language and for years

00:16campaigners have fought to have the trailblazing poet recognised with a statue commemorating

00:23her life in the city she grew up in.

00:26And it was earlier today that statue was unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen.

00:34It's really, really precious. I mean, we've worked on this for four years-ish and seeing

00:40someone like her taking true interest in it and taking her time out of her days to come

00:47and look at it is really, really precious to me.

00:50A lover of literature, Queen Camilla went on to tour the Beany House of Art and Knowledge.

00:56Where she met the next generation, learning about the pioneering playwright.

01:01Though it's safe to say they were more star-struck by royalty than by the restoration royalist.

01:08It was really fun. She was a really nice lady and I really enjoyed talking to her.

01:15So good. It was really good. It'll be a moment that we'll always remember.

01:21It was surprising and so fun because I've never met any of the royal family before.

01:29Meanwhile, patient crowds waited outside to catch a glimpse of Camilla. After all, it's

01:35not every day a royal comes to town.

01:38Oh, we're so excited. Yeah, it's a rare occasion so we're so happy.

01:44Yeah, it's such a beautiful university here so I was a bit surprised today. I was like,

01:50Great day to be inside.

01:51The thing is, she's a real person just like we are. But of course, she's royal and I'm ordinary.

02:01Whatever their motivation for being there, a question remains. How did a woman as fierce

02:07as Aphra Behn become forgotten in the city of Chaucer and Marlowe?

02:13I wonder what Chaucer and Marlowe have in common that Aphra doesn't. And in all truth,

02:19it's the fact that she was a woman. She was once the best and most prolific restoration

02:24writer in all of England. And then she became too saucy for the Victorians to handle. And

02:30now she's back. Hopefully that idea that you can say what you want, what you think, you

02:36can celebrate female sexuality and female fun. We know that's true. And that's why we've

02:41put Aphra back exactly where she belongs.

02:44The crowds may have gone here on Canterbury High Street, the Queen departed. But this

02:49statue of Aphra Behn, the grandmother of English literature, a pioneer for her plays that

02:56challenged gender and sexual stereotypes, still remains. And only a few hours after

03:04being unveiled, it's capturing the hearts and minds of the people of Canterbury.

03:11Oliver Leeder, The Sags, for KMTV.