These heartwarming photos show The Queen loving every minute of her last trip to Liverpool.
Her Majesty died peacefully at Balmoral on Thursday, September 8, 2022, making her Britain's longest serving monarch. Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. "
Queen Elizabeth has reigned as monarch for 70 years and ascended to the throne after her father, King George VI died in 1952. During her lifetime, Her Majesty made numerous visits to Merseyside.
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In tribute, we take a look back at the last time The Queen visited Liverpool. In 2016, the then 90-year-old monarch arrived via the royal train which pulled into Liverpool Lime Street station just after 10:30am on June 22 that year, the Liverpool ECHO previously reported.
Judging from the pictures our photographers captured at the time, The Queen, wearing a baby pink outfit, loved every minute of her time in the city. Met by cheers from the crowds, Her Majesty was more than happy to stop, take flowers, cards and even framed photographs of herself from the awaiting Scousers.
Her Majesty loved the reception Liverpool gave her. She was beaming at the crowds at Lime Street. Then it was straight on to the International Festival of Business where Her Majesty was shown around the exhibits and enjoyed some music from the Pagoda Chinese Orchestra.
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The Queen unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of the Exhibition Centre and then made her way over to the Liverpool Town Hall for lunch. But, this was not before she got out onto the balcony to wave to the hundreds of people who had turned out to see her on Castle Street.
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And she loved it. Really loved it. Everyone was cheering and waving flags, what's not to love? And the Duke didn't mind the attention either.
The Queen made sure that she waved to everyone, even peering around the corner - all with the biggest smile on her face. For lunch, inside the town hall, the Queen enjoyed a main course of fillet of Mawdsley beef with peppercorn and cognac sauce, served with potato dauphinois and asparagus.
For dessert she was served apple and cinnamon tart alongside vanilla ice cream and creme anglais followed by coffee and petit fours. After her lunch at the town hall the Queen made her way to Alder Hey Hospital and had a great time meeting former Liverpool footballer Jamie Carragher and his wife, Nicola.
And she also unveiled a plaque at Alder Hey, which she was also very happy about. The Royal party visited the oncology unit and the Teenage Cancer Trust Common Room, where they met staff and patients.
Their next stop was an inpatient ward, where they met the executive chef, members of staff and patients, before they went to the entrance atrium to meet appeal donors. The Queen later unveiled a plaque before leaving.
The Queen then headed off to Liverpool John Lennon Airport to go home in the royal plane. But many still hold fond memories of her last visit to the city.
At the time, The Queen's visit to the city saw hundreds turn out to cheer and wave flags while she looked on and smiled back. Schools from across Liverpool brought children to wave at Her Majesty when she stepped out on to the balcony of the town hall on Castle Street.
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In June 2018, many will also remember The Queen and Meghan Markle visited the nearby Mersey Gateway Bridge and Chester for official engagements.
Following the sad news of the Queen's death on Thursday, a predesigned plan known as Operation London Bridge has now been put into place.
This sets out exactly what will happen in the coming days ahead of Her Majesty's funeral - and during the official mourning period. The day of the Queen's death is referred to as D-Day, with the coming days to be referred to as D-Day plus the number of days that have passed since her death.
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