My wings parade went well enough, thirty years ago now. HRH the Princess Royal turned up at RAF Shawbury as advertised and stuck the wings badges on; I still have some nice photos of the event.
What was annoying was that it was classed as a formal station royal visit. This meant the Officers' Mess was so full of wheels and social climbers that we weren't invited to our own formal graduation lunch. We had to take our proud parents and assorted other guests, who had travelled many miles, out to the pub for a shandy and sandwiches.
Even more annoying was a few days later when we discovered the thieving bastards running the Mess had charged us all for the formal lunch!