Cheering crowds got the Queen's Diamond Jubilee tour of the UK off to a colourful start as Leicester had the honour of being the first city to welcome Her Majesty and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Accompanied by Prince William's wife Kate, the Queen attended a fashion parade at De Montfort University where she was wowed by music, dance troupes and costumes.
Crowds, which had already gathered at the clock tower and cathedral by early morning, vyed for a glimpse of the royal party, who eventually descended on Leicester on Thursday morning.
Many of the hundreds gathered were students but local schoolchildren made sure they would be noticed by patriotically waving Union flags.
Wearing a pink dress and coat, and clutching a pink bear, Danielle, who had been allowed to take the day off school to see the royal party today, was unexpectedly pulled from the crowd to give her flowers to the Queen and Kate when they arrived.
Seven-year-old Danielle Mann, from Leicester, presented Kate with a red rose for Prince William and bunches of carnations for herself, the Queen and the Duke.
The schoolgirl said she thought Kate was "very pretty" and she was "excited to meet her".
The Queen, who travelled by train with the Duke of Edinburgh and her granddaughter-in-law, viewed stalls highlighting local projects and charities.
The Queen and Kate both watched a student fashion parade at the university, put on by six students and was presented with a tailor-made design for a pair of shoes by each of the students. Kate was then asked to decide which pair was her favourite, giving one lucky designer a kick-start to their career.
Winning designer Becka Hunt, 20, said she could not believe her shoes will now be made for Kate.
She said: "I really just can't believe it. I'm overwhelmed.
"She came over and said she loved all the designs. I cannot believe I've been chosen."
Miss Hunt said her design was inspired by 19th century elegance and the blue colour was taken from the Duchess's engagement ring.
But while the women were preoccupied with fashion, Philip viewed the Square Mile project - De Montfort University's programme to help improve the life and surroundings of the local community.
The royal party then visited Leicester Cathedral to attend a service of Christian worship with participation from other faiths.
The Queen, the Duke and Kate, who donned a suit by LK Bennett, a hat by James Lock, and Episode shoes, also witnessed a performance on a theme of the Holi Festival, entitled 60 Colours.
Before the visit, Leicester City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: "I am very proud that Leicester will be the first stop on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee tour.
"Leicester has an excellent reputation for hosting celebrations and I am confident we will give the royal party a day to remember."
The Diamond Jubilee tour will take the Queen and Duke from the Isle of Wight to Birmingham, and from Merthyr Tydfil to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The royal couple will travel around the country from March to July, by a range of means - car, royal train, aircraft and the ship Leander.
The tour will finish on July 25 in the South East of England.
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Cheering crowds got the Queen's Diamond Jubilee tour of the UK off to a colourful start as Leicester had the honour of being the first city to welcome Her Majesty and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Acco...
Cheering crowds got the Queen's Diamond Jubilee tour of the UK off to a colourful start as Leicester had the honour of being the first city to welcome Her Majesty and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Acco...
The Duchess of Cambridge is missing her husband Prince William "terribly", she told a well-wisher on Thursday. Kate was in Leicester for the first stop...
First success was to get to Leicester by train, no leaves on the line, no late departure or arrival or interference from Bob Crowe......miraculous almost.
Norman_Mitchison: First success was to get to Leicester by train, no
wow.. at what point do you go from saucy and nice, to dowdy and sad hats? and in picture #7, the look the Queen is giving the woman greeting her seems to say, "your hat is more playful than mine, let's see how a year in the Tower suits you, sweetie".
walkerhds: wow.. at what point do you go from saucy and
I am afraid Her Majesty will have the same trouble with Katherine as Prince Charles had with Diana. Everyone will want to look at the Duchess. Very sadly, and I say this with feeling, there is no competetion between a young well-dressed girl and an elderly grandmother. The Queen should stay at home and put her feet up, which she well-deserves to do at the age of 85 and let Katherine get on with wowing the crowds which she seems to be particularly good at.
bellsheil: I am afraid Her Majesty will have the same trouble
interesting that they just trooped down to the trainstation; no need to get them whisked to Gatwick or Heathrow, and get the equiv of Air Force One rolling.
walkerhds: interesting that they just trooped down to the trainstation; no
Are the cities receiving Royal visits being given much prior notice? I'm curious because my work frequently takes me to a major civic building and right now everybody there is talking about a secretive "VIP visit" next week. Nobody will say who the visitor is, but staff are being told to clear their personal belongings from certain rooms or it will be disposed of, stuff like that. That wouldn't be unusual if a top Royal was visiting because I know from prior visits that buildings and sewage tunnels are swept beforehand. Anyway, speculation is so rife that the Queen is visiting that - if that *is* the case - then they may as well have announced it.
fauxtronic: Are the cities receiving Royal visits being given much prior
The Queen's visits and tours are published about 2 months in advance. I'm in Australia and I know what her program is. She's not travelling far from London for the rest of this month, but you check it out yourself on the Monarchy's web page.
Popaluma: The Queen's visits and tours are published about 2 months
They're not always published two months in advance. Sometimes for security reasons, they are not announced until 48 hours before. It really depends on the nature of the visit. For an official tour of this nature, one would expect two months notice. When the Queen and Prince Philip visited my area a couple of years ago, there was just one week notice. When Charles visited prior to his first marriage, we had about two months notice.
Anyway, it's not just the Queen making visits, but her immediate family, and I just discovered that Prince Andrew made a visit to the Michelin in S-O-T today (about twenty miles from my location) and everybody who works there was oblivious to this until two days ago. So possibly - very possibly - the VIP visit next week does involve a Royal but not the Queen.
As a paid up member of Republic UK, I shall try to steer clear of the area.
fauxtronic: They're not always published two months in advance. Sometimes for
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PA/The Huffington Post UK First Posted: 8/03/2012 12:31 Updated: 9/03/2012 18:48