SWINDON’S central library received a right royal seal of approval yesterday as Princess Anne officially opened the £10m facility.

Although the library was unveiled with much fanfare in October, the Princess Royal was in town to give it an official blessing, and to unveil the ceremonial plaque.

In a one-and-a-half-hour visit the Princess Royal received a guided tour of the award-winning library by architect Nic Newland. She also chatted with staff and browsed the shelves.

Council leader Rod Bluh welcomed the princess, saying he was honoured and delighted to show off a project that had been in the making since 1936.

Unveiling the plaque, Princess Anne said that although the library had taken a long time to come to fruition, it was a credit to the town.

She said: “People forget what Swindon is like in Old Town and in the town centre and that it has a lot to be supported.”

The princess agreed with Coun Bluh that the building could be a force for good in a worrying time.

She said: “It gives people a boost but more than that it has attracted people to the library.

“To have this as a building, which reflects everything you want from a new building but also draws people in is a huge achievement.

“I hope people continue to come here and use it.”

Steve Hiscock, a library systems officer, was shaking with nerves before giving the Princess Royal a demonstration of the library’s automatic check-out and book return facilities.

He said: “I was really worried about it before but she was very nice and asked lots of questions. She was very interested in the technology and finding out how it worked.

“It was very exciting to meet her – it’s not every day you get to chat to Princess Anne at work.”

Emma McElwee, a children’s librarian, said: “She was very approachable. She was very impressed with the children’s pod and was interested to know about children’s storytime and whether we do that in all the libraries.

“It was a really good experience to meet her and show off the library.”

Padraig Gaffney, who runs the cafe in the library as well Cafe Ambience across the street, was charged with preparing lunch for a princess, which included a mixed sandwich platter of smoked salmon and cucumber, French brie and cranberry, followed by wild berry salad and home-made butter cream and jam cake.

He said: “It was wonderful to meet her. I thought the pace of the visit was really good because she had the time to chat to people and have a really good look around the library.

“She was interested in finding out if we were an independent business and how we make our food. She was very easy to talk to.”

The princess took a few moments to greet well-wishers outside the library, but did not have time to talk to Old Town library campaigner Shirley Burnham.

Mrs Burnham, who had earlier received a worried email from the police about her “protest”, said a security officer had spoken to her but no attempt had been made to confiscate her banner.