Royal superfan dubbed 'Union Jack Man' dies aged 91

An enthusiastic fan of the Royal Family who was reportedly nicknamed "The Union Jack Man" by the late Queen Elizabeth II has died, aged 91.

Terry Hutt, from Weston-super-Mare, was known for camping outside hospitals ahead of royal births.

"I always get the Queen smiling, I might stop out for several nights but when I get her smiling, it's always worthwhile," he said in 2016.

His daughter, Tracey Joy, said he was a "tireless" campaigner for the NHS and Birnbeck Pier. "A life well lived and as we are grieving we look back at his fight for life, love for his family," she added.

Hutt became a keen royalist at the age of four, when the King and Queen visited his parents after the Blitz in London and gave him a souvenir mug.

In 2013, he spent nearly two weeks on a bench ahead of Prince George's birth, being fed porridge and given cups of tea by staff there.

And then aged 79, he slept outside St Mary's Hospital on the same bench awaiting the arrival of Princess Charlotte.

"Every baby that's born, people say to me 'it's only another baby', but this is a royal baby - there's a difference.

"My wife tells me I'm mad. I have a waterproof outfit, a tarpaulin over the bench, decorated with union jacks. We call it the royal bench," he said at the time.

Aside from the royals, Hutt also had other passions and interests.

He collected thousands of signatures in support of the restoration of Birnbeck Pier, something his daughter said she was proud of.

Speaking about her father's passing, Joy said: "It has been very sad, but despite his many health ailments he continued to do everything he loved.

"To reach the age of 91 was a miracle, overcoming kidney cancer and multiple surgeries, each time he came out fighting but heart failure along with pneumonia and sepsis took him in the end."

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