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Queen Elizabeth II's former pageant master dies

Debbie Tubby,in Gorlestonand
Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Getty Images Bruno Peek standing next to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Peek who is standing on the left is wearing a dark suit with a yellow tie and is holding a flaming torch. The late Queen, who is standing on the right, is wearing a white headscarf and lime green coat. In front of her is a large bouquet of pink, white and lilac flowers. They are both standing outside.Getty Images
Bruno Peek organised beacon lighting ceremonies to mark major royal occasions for more than 40 years

A former royal pageant master who organised beacon lighting ceremonies to mark major royal occasions for more than 40 years has died.

Bruno Peek, who lived in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, died on Sunday aged 75 following a long period of ill health.

Earlier in the year, he disclosed to the BBC that seven weeks before Christmas he had been diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer.

Peek was recognised for his work and made an Order of the British Empire in 2000 and became a Commander of the Royal Victoria Order in 2022.

Peek, who previously lived in Carlton Colville, Suffolk, announced his retirement in 2024 and acted as pageant master one final time, for the 80th VE commemorations in May 2025.

Qays Najm/BBC Bruno Peek is sitting on an armchair. He is looking directly at the camera and smiling and is wearing a white shirt with a yellow tie and a tweed jacket. Two medals adorn his jacket with one around his neck rests on his tie. There are gold-framed photos behind him on a wall, and a glass cabinet contains a crown. Qays Najm/BBC
Peek became a pageant master after reinstating the Great Yarmouth carnival

During his work as pageant master, he organised the lighting of hundreds of beacons across the world for Queen Elizabeth II's Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee celebrations as well as her 90th birthday.

Peek was born to Polish parents in King's Lynn and was placed in a children's home before being adopted at the age of four.

He worked as a baker, butcher, welder and in the offshore industry before reinstating Great Yarmouth carnival and going on to become pageant master.

Qays Najm/BBC Graham Plant standing outside in front of a tree. He is looking directly at the camera and is wearing a black coat over the top of a white shirt with a blue patterned tie. Qays Najm/BBC
Graham Plant describes Bruno Peek as being a "real champion" of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston

Graham Plant, deputy leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, described Peek as a "son of the borough".

He said: "It's a really sad occasion. My heart goes out to the family and friends, but it's a real loss to the borough.

"He's been a real champion of the borough throughout his life — it's so sad to see him go.

"He organised so many things on the side as well as what he was doing for the Queen. How are we going to replace that?"

Press Association A grainy photograph of Bruno Peek lighting a beacon on the tower of St James's Church in Clerkenwell Green, London to mark the new Millennium. He is standing on the left and is holding a beacon in his left hand. It is lighting a metal beacon stand which is on the right.Press Association
Peek was the founder of the millennium beacon project, which saw hundreds of beacons lit around the UK

Long-term friend Reverend Albert Cadmore said he knew Peek when he was four years old and had recently visited him regularly in hospital.

He said he had been delighted to see Peek's success from launching his public career with the Yarmouth carnival in 1981 to becoming the Queen's pageant master.

"He did so much in those great civic occasions and royal occasions [I was] so proud to see him there alongside the Queen for those events", he said.

"I just hope someone will keep up the legacy and keep those projects going."

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