Last weekend, visitors to the Westgate and City Museum in Winchester were able to meet a Tudor soldier from Queen Mary's Army. The soldier, in the role of a Petty Captain of Foot, from the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson, was in town to give a first-hand account of the procession and wedding of Mary Tudor and Philip of Spain in Winchester Cathedral 450 years ago.

Dressed in authentic costume, the soldier described the events surrounding the Tudor Royal Wedding, a spectacular occasion of pomp and pageantry, long remembered by those who witnessed it.

The visit of the Tudor soldier, in collaboration with staff at the Armouries Museum, was part of Winchester City Council Museums Service's contribution to Winchester's year-long celebration of 450 years of Anglo-Spanish culture and history "The Marriage of England and Spain, 1554-2004".