rich_jacko

...I've been up to Leeds, to go see the Queen!

It was a good day for it. The sun shone, there was live music (of the happy-clappy type, but it was easy to get caught up in it!) and the crowds were out. Oddly all the banners and bunting were Olympics-related rather than Jubilee. *shrugs*

I managed to grab a good spot with only one row of people in front of me. Unfortunately, Gillian had transport problems, and when she got there she ended up on the opposite side of the road to me, so we didn't get to meet up until afterwards.

Most people thought the Queen was due to arrive about 11am, because that's what the website implied. It turns out she wasn't due until noon, so we were waiting longer than expected. But she arrived ten minutes early in the end. I had a good view as she came past, and got even closer to Prince Philip. This was thanks mainly to the guy immediately behind me shouting, "Prince Philip, you are an absolute star!" which got him to come over and wave to us (and it was good to see him looking so well).

Amazingly there was enough room to move immediately after the royal couple went past, so I worked my way down the crowd to the live music stage and saw them as they watched the rest of the show. We sang the Queen's tune and gave her three cheers, which elicited a smile from her on the big screen. Then I watched as they got into their car and drove off.

I met up with Gillian on the way back to the station. We stopped for lunch/snacks and then caught the train back. We compared photos with each other and also got chatting to a lovely old couple on the tram who wanted to know all about it.

Click for photos