Queen Elizabeth braved heavy rain yesterday (10.07.08) to attend the 150th Great Yorkshire Show.
Popular on LondonNet
The monarch – accompanied by her husband Prince Phillip – was presented with flowers as thousands of well-wishers gathered to applaud. Evie Tomlinson, seven, and her four-year-old sister Millie, from Loughborough, Leicestershire, both carried Union flags in honour of the royal visit and gave the queen a bouquet.
Evie said: “She was nice. She said thank you for the flowers and that they were lovely.”
The queen was due to watch a carriage-driving demonstration during her visit but the event was cancelled due to the muddy conditions in the arena.
One of the carriage drivers, Anya Mower, said the queen was sympathetic.
She said: “She spoke to me about the mud and about how I’ve got standard Shetlands who were sinking repeatedly because they’ve only got little legs, bless them.
“She said it was a shame the event had been cancelled and maybe we could judge them on the road instead. Meeting the queen has made up for it though. She was absolutely wonderful.”
After viewing livestock, the queen unveiled a plaque for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Regional Agricultural Centre, which has yet to be built.
Organisers built the plaque into a dry-stone wall, which will be included in the £5 million project when the building – comprising offices, a cafe and a farm shop – is completed.
