Booksellers and friends, courtiers and admirers remembered the maverick visionary Richard Booth, King of Hay and founder of the international Book Town movement, on the opening day of Hay Festival Winter Weekend.
Derek Addyman, Ollie Cooke, Greg Coombs, Aubrey Fry, Ros Fry and Pat Thornton all joined in celebrating the legacy of a man who worked tirelessly to promote the "town of books," sharing anecdotes from their times spent working with him.
Booth, who died this year at the age of 80, had dedicated his life to bookselling and promoting the town. It was on April Fools’ Day in 1977 when he strode down Hay's high street, dressed in a fake ermine robe and home-made crown to declare the town an independent sovereign state.
And he didn't stop there. He appointed his horse as prime minister, his made his friend April Ashley a duchess, he issued passports, and printed rice-paper money, generating thousands of column inches of publicity for the town in the process.
His first bookshop, The Old Fire Station, opened in 1962 and he went on to set up half-a-dozen more. Richard Booth's Bookshop continues to run to this day under the ownership of Elizabeth Haycox.
Long live the King!
Explore the full Hay Festival Winter Weekend programme here.