From Peter Hanning, Constable of St Saviour.
THE origins of the Visite Royale may have disappeared into the mists of time, but that does not mean that the twice-yearly visits to the parishes are an anachronism.

I am saddened that your reporter (JEP, 6 August) was unable to take the Royal Court seriously and that the Jersey Evening Post chose not to report factually or accurately on this scrutiny of the good running of St Saviour, but instead published a silly comment piece.

What is the most serious official occasion for a parish every six years was reduced to trivia.

There was no mention of the court checking that all parish accounting and monies are correctly handled, or of the Honorary Police report – serious matters to parishioners.

Had your reporter taken the trouble to attend the whole visit, or even read the guide notes with photographs provided, he would have seen that the second stop related not to a hedge, but to landslips and the ensuing dangers to road users.

The last stop did not concern a drain, but the prevention of repeated flooding of a number of houses, also important to parishioners.

Any reference to the ‘silly season’ was in the attitude and mind of your reporter, rather than in an important parish and Island occasion.

Your own website states that ‘the Visite Royale, during which members of the Royal Court and other officials make their formal examination of a parish…evidence of social solidarity, part of the life of the countryside and a valued link with Jersey’s rich and idiosyncratic past.’

I had always believed that the Jersey Evening Post took pride in upholding our traditions and particular way of life.

It would be a great shame for those standards of reporting to be lost for a cheap laugh.