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Terry Hutt, Britain’s ‘Union Jack Man’ and Royal Superfan, Dies at 91

His public devotion to the monarchy belied decades of grassroots activism on access to buses, public toilets, local care.

Overview

  • Hutt’s death at 91 was reported Monday, with his daughter attributing it to heart failure complicated by pneumonia and sepsis and starting a GoFundMe for funeral costs.
  • He became a fixture at royal events in Union Jack attire and camped outside St Mary’s Hospital for the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte after years of similar vigils.
  • Family accounts and local reports describe a wider record of activism that included a 1997 protest where he chained himself to a bus to push London Transport toward wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
  • He also campaigned for St Bart’s Hospital funding, pensioner bus passes, public toilet access, the NHS, and the restoration of Birnbeck Pier in his hometown of Weston-super-Mare.
  • Media reports said senior royals were heartbroken, while relatives traced his royal loyalties to childhood during the Blitz when the King and Queen gave him a souvenir mug.