The ‘once in a lifetime’ RAF 100th anniversary flight procession of about 60 military aircraft celebrating the service’s centenary flew over our castle giving a special meaning for the people viewing the spectacular sight on Tuesday.

Those lucky – or clever – enough to have chosen a spot by the bandstand at Alexandra Gardens were rewarded with a birds’ eye view of the planes as they flew directly over Windsor Castle - an image that even those gathered in the Mall a quarter of a mile earlier might have envied.

It was in image that will undoubtedly be one of the most iconic of the 21st century as the sun shone down on the planes - and everyone who watched knew it.

About 200 people gathered at Alexandra Gardens, although hundreds of others had chosen to watch from a variety of other spots - including Runnymede and the motorway bridge next to the Myrke at Datchet or in Maidenhead’s parks.

The convoy of 100 aircraft – on what also the 78th anniversary of the Battle of Britain – had started off in Ipswich, flying over Colchester and Chelmsford headed for the Mall and Buckingham Palace in London at 1pm.

Then, 10 minutes later the planes reached Windsor.

The Hawk Trainers came first, followed by the Tornadoes, the F-35s and then the Eurofighter Typhoons whose extraordinary acrobatic feat of forming the word 100 in the sky drew gasps from the crowd.

Finally, the Red Arrows followed with their spectacular display of red, white and blue.