The family of the 12-year-old girl who was banned from wearing a Union Jack dress to her school’s ‘Culture Day’ are furious over her stepfather’s decision to thrust her into the national spotlight.
Year Seven pupil Courtney Wright was prevented by Bilton School in Rugby in Warwickshire from wearing the flag dress and the resulting row dominated the national media conversation and was even discussed in Parliament.
Now, MailOnline can reveal the explosive nature of the row over Courtney’s outfit has also had consequences within her wider family, with many bitterly upset at the decision to expose the child to such intense scrutiny.
Their anger is particularly aimed at Courtney’s stepfather Stuart Field, 47, whose decision it appears to have been to escalate the dress row into the national media.
One close relative told us today that they believe Mr Field had been motivated by his right-wing political views.
They told us: ‘Stuart is politically very angry about stuff like immigration and small boats and those things.
‘He’s a bit of a right-wing culture warrior type and I think he saw an opportunity to start a row here.
‘I just don’t think it was very good parenting to involve his step-daughter in it. Courtney is now in the eye of the storm and she shouldn’t have been exposed to all of this attention.’
Year Seven pupil Courtney Wright (above) was prevented by Bilton School in Rugby, Warwickshire, from wearing a Union Jack dress and the resulting row was even discussed in Parliament
MailOnline can reveal the row over Courtney’s outfit has exploded in Courtney’s wider family with many furious her stepfather Stuart Field (above) whose decision it appears to have been to escalate the dress row into the national media
A poster advertising the school’s Culture Day wanted students ‘recognising and celebrating the rich cultural diversity within our school community’
Another source within the family told us: ‘Stuart has upset a lot of people in his own family with his eagerness to put Courtney in front of the cameras.
‘And it seems his motivation was about satisfying his own sense of anger against the school.
‘Courtney is a level-headed and smart girl for her age but she’s still very young and this must have been a crazy few days for her and it will surely be distressing by now.’
Indeed Courtney herself alluded to how disorienting her sudden fame has been during one of the media appearances earlier this week.
‘Since it’s happened, I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say “Is that you on the news?” she explained. ‘People have said to me I am on all the apps when they open them. I’ve had my friends say “Oh my God, Courtney”.’
Another family member told us today: ‘Stuart has his own grievances and I think they are what’s motivated him this week.
‘Our whole family has been subjected to intense scrutiny as we’ve been placed in the public eye – all our social media output has been scoured for any suggestion that we have far right opinions or that there is something more sinister than a row over a Geri Halliwell dress.
‘It’s been a horrible week for all of us and we are absolutely fed up of the attention so God knows how Courtney herself is feeling like by now.
One close relative told MailOnline that they believe Mr Field (pictured with Courtney) had been motivated by his right-wing political views
Another source within the family said: ‘Courtney is a level-headed and smart girl for her age but she’s still very young and this must have been a crazy few days for her and it will surely be distressing by now’
‘Personally I wish he’d never piped up about this and none of this had ever happened.’
It seems that by today even Mr Field has begun to adopt a low key approach – associates say he has ‘gone to ground’ and is no longer responding to calls from most friends never mind those from the media.
Mr Field, a marine restoration worker, who has three other children aged 25, 20 and 14 with his ex-wife, took on the care of Courtney when he started a relationship with her mother Katie Wright, 36. He was married for 23 years before divorcing 18 months ago.
Another long time associate of the former fish and chip shop worker said: ‘For anyone who knows him, the idea of Stuart as some sort of moral figure for justice is quite hilarious.’
They were speaking as it emerged that Bilton School too was reeling from the effects of its unexpected exposure to national attention – it announced it was closing early for the summer holidays after staff reportedly received threats and ‘extremist abuse’.
The school in Rugby in Warwickshire said it was being closed today ‘in the interests of student and staff safety’.
Bilton School told parents it was closing earlier than normal for the summer holidays in a letter sent on Thursday, citing ‘extremist abuse online and via our telephone systems’.
‘The nature and tone of this abuse has escalated in recent days, including personal threats to our staff,’ the letter continued. Ranjit Samra, CEO of Stowe Valley Multi-Academy Trust and headteacher Jayne Delves said staff had been threatened.
Mr Field (left) who has three other children, took on the care of Courtney (right) when he started a relationship with her mother Katie Wright
Courtney had taken inspiration from Geri Halliwell (pictured in 1997) in her iconic Union Jack dress
‘Straight A’ student Courtney Wright, 12, wore the Spice Girls inspired dress to a ‘Culture Celebration Day’ last Friday.
Courtney, was stopped at the school gates by a member of staff and ordered to change after picking it out for the day.
Mr Field said he was ‘gobsmacked’ to learn his step-daughter had been segregated from her peers due to her choice of attire.
The row began when Mr Field, who has three other children from a previous relationship, publicised online how Courtney had been stopped at the gates and told to change.
Mr Field, who now works as a shipping engineer, said: ‘Courtney was so embarrassed and couldn’t understand what she’d done wrong.
‘She should not be made to feel embarrassed about being British. And she shouldn’t be punished for celebrating British culture and history; nobody else I’ve spoken to can quite get their heads around it.’
‘Another with a St George’s flag and another with a Welsh flag were not allowed in either. It was ridiculous. It just seemed anything that was remotely British wasn’t allowed.
‘The day was to celebrate everyone’s cultures and Courtney chose this Union Flag dress so she could celebrate hers.
Courtney was stopped at the Bilton School (above) gates by a member of staff and ordered to change after picking it out for ‘Culture Celebration Day’ last Friday
Mr Field (pictured with Courtney) said he was ‘gobsmacked’ to learn his daughter had been segregated from her peers due to her choice of attire
‘She also wrote this speech to go with it and was very proud of what she’d done.
‘The next thing I get a call at work at around 9am to say she’s not allowed in school dressed like that and that it was unacceptable.’
He added: ‘I wasn’t able to get away from work until about midday. They made her sit in reception all morning in front of the receptionists and kept her in isolation.
‘She’s a straight A student, one of the brightest in her year, and she’s never been in trouble before so she was really upset.
‘All the kids there are British in my eyes, I like to think I’m a tolerant person but this was just not right.
‘I wanted an answer as to why they thought this was acceptable – and nobody could give me a straight answer, I wanted to know how they had justified it.
‘I spoke to her head of year, and he said he wasn’t the best person to talk to about it, so I can only assume he didn’t really agree with it either.
‘It obviously came from above him but I don’t know for sure who made the decision.
Mr Field said: ‘Courtney was so embarrassed and couldn’t understand what she’d done wrong’
‘I was fobbed off and told that I’d get a phone call and I took Courtney straight out for a nice meal to cheer her up.
‘If anything I was extremely proud of what she chosen and what she had written in her speech.
A spokesman for Stowe Valley Trust later said: ‘At Bilton School, we are proud of the diversity of our students and the rich heritage they bring to our community. We are committed to fostering an environment where every pupil feels respected, valued, and included.
‘On Friday 11th July, an incident occurred during our Culture Celebration Day that caused considerable upset to one of our pupils, her family, and members of the wider community. We deeply regret the distress this has caused and offer our sincere and unreserved apologies.
‘We have since spoken directly with the pupil and her family to listen to their concerns and reflect on how this could have been handled better. We are committed to learning from this experience and ensuring that every student feels recognised and supported when expressing pride in their heritage.
‘As a school, we are reviewing our policies and strengthening staff training to ensure our practices reflect our values of inclusion, respect, and understanding for all.’
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appeared to support Courtney’s choice of dress after his spokesperson said he had always been ‘clear that being British is something to be celebrated’.
