A VETERAN police chief and great-grandfather from Bala has died at the age of 89.

John Vaughan, who served in the police for 31 years, was once assigned to the investiture of Prince Charles to protect an anonymous young woman and was shocked when her identity was revealed as the daughter of a US President.

Mr Vaughan, born in 1929, attended the former Bala Grammar School under the care of his dad, Tom - along with older siblings Aled, Mary Leah and Eiryls - after their mother Alice died in 1932.

Upon leaving the all-boys secondary school in the wake of the Second World War, Mr Vaughan wanted to join the army and his ambition was set on the Welsh Guards, famous for protecting Buckingham Palace in red tunic uniforms and tall, black bearskin caps.

Mr Vaughan passed his entry tests and was posted to Kettering. His family said that when called to duty at Windsor Castle, he joked: ‘the Queen and I are neighbours!’

Mr Vaughan left the Welsh Guards in 1953 and started his three-decade career in the police as an officer on the beat for Denbighshire Constabulary, before it amalgamated with the Gwynedd and Flintshire forces to form North Wales Police in 1974.

He was stationed in Wrexham and it was there that he met Margaret, whom he would marry in 1956 and have three children, Gareth, Ann and Huw, who in turn provided them with much loved grandchildren, Claire and Bethan; Harri, George and Molly; and Joe and Lucy, and three great grandchildren, Ryan, Albie and Kaiden.

During his career, Mr Vaughan was stationed across North Wales, including Caernarfon, Llandudno, Wrexham, Ruthin and Denbigh. He would rise to the ranks of chief superintendent, secondary to the assistant chief constable.

Despite having a busy workload, he would make time for his family. Huw, the youngest sibling, said: “There were times when we didn’t see dad much but he always made sure we would go out as a family every Sunday and on a two-week camping holiday in the summer.

“He had a good and successful career. The police was like a family back then and he would say that modern policing is ‘not the same’ because it is understaffed and has lost that personal touch.”

One of Mr Vaughan’s proudest moments came when he was a detective inspector based in Caernarfon, at the time of the investiture of Prince Charles to become the Prince of Wales in 1969. Mr Vaughan was made responsible for the safety of an anonymous young lady who attended the ceremony. Some weeks later, a parcel arrived at Caernarfon police station addressed to him, sent from The White House, Washington DC. It contained a ‘thank you’ note and signed photograph from the lady he had been responsible for - her name was Patricia Nixon, daughter of Richard Nixon, the President of the United States. The photograph still hangs in the study of the family home.

Mr Vaughan’s work inspired his eldest child, Gareth, who joined the Marines and then North Wales Police in his dad’s footsteps. “You only get one father and you look up to him,” Gareth said. “Dad enjoyed his career and he was well thought of.

“My mother, both of my uncles and my cousin were also in the police, so I had never considered doing anything else.”

Mr Vaughan moved to Dyserth and left the police in 1984 with fond memories. He took pleasure in a long retirement, in which he liked to garden, play golf and go on caravan holidays. He and Margaret also found a home away from home in New Zealand, visiting no fewer than seven times.

The grandfather to become great-grandfather was made captain of Rhuddlan Golf Club in 1988 while he continued to meet with former colleagues at the Welsh Guards. He would also continue to holiday after Margaret died, including trips to Dubai for the cricket and to Malta for the sunshine.

The Vaughan family said: “John lived life to the full. He will be sadly missed by his beloved family and friends.”