By Royal appointment

The occasion was marked with a special tea dance in the Pavilion, which had just been brought back into use after it fell into disrepair.

She also visited the St Andrew’s police convalescence home, on Harlow Moor Road, to mark its centenary, and went on to Farrah’s toffee factory to see production of Harrogate’s famous toffee. The Queen had apparently been sent a tin of Farrah’s and so enjoyed it that a visit was requested as part of her itinerary. She was, of course, presented with a selection of toffee.

A huge crowd awaited her on the next part of the visit, to open the new Strayside Wing, at Harrogate District Hospital. She lunched there with 20 members of staff, whose names had been drawn out of a hat.

Then it was time for a walkabout among Christmas shoppers on Oxford Street before visiting Harrogate Theatre to meet the cast of the 1998 pantomime, Aladdin.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh has arrived together at Harrogate station with the Duke making a separate trip to Knaresborough where he visited local electronics company GSPK and also had a pint and a chat with the regulars at Knaresborough Working Men’s Club.