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| NORTH YORKSHIRE |  | | | CLEVELAND | | | COUNTY DURHAM | | |
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Queen makes show a right royal affair
CROWDS turned out to greet Her Majesty the Queen today as she made her first visit to the Great Yorkshire Show in more than 30 years.
The Queen was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh for the visit, but the couple conducted separate tours of the event, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.
On arrival the Queen visited the President's Pavilion where she signed the visitors' book. She was greeted by a number of local dignitaries, including the President of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Christopher Hall and his wife Jackie and the Hon Show Director, Bill Cowling and his wife Caroline.
After meeting staff, she viewed a special photographic display depicting 150 years of the YAS. She was also presented with a commemorative book called Great Yorkshire, a celebration of 150 shows and a hamper of locally produced fare.
The Duke was presented with a YAS tie.
A tour of livestock followed where Chief sheep steward Henry Watson of Fridaythorpe, Driffield and chief cattle steward Margaret Chapman of York were introduced to the Queen. A number of champion sheep were also in display.
The Queen also chatted to a group of models from the Louise Morton Model Agency of Huddersfield who were modeling clothes made by local designer labels including Izzy Lane and Tost Alpaca.
Then after watching Graham Thompson expertly shear a sheep she then moved on to view champion cattle and dairy cattle and chatted to the women breeders.
The Queen then inspected a line of horses and carriages which had been due to parade around the riders ring. However, the condition of the ring due to the recent heavy rain meant this was not possible.
She then visited the site of the new £5.1m Regional Agricultural Centre where she met some of the people involved in the project and unveiled a plaque before moving on to the riders ring for a special display of eight Cleveland Bay horses.
The horses are a particular favourite of the Queen who watched as they paraded around the ring for her. While in the ring the Queen was also shown the George V Trophy which was named after her Grandfather.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Edinburgh toured the Renewable Energy Area and The Discovery Zone and viewed the agricultural machinery lines before joining the Queen for lunch at the Presidents Pavilion.
After lunch a packed grandstand and main ring spectators watched the royal couple take their seats in the Presidents box where they watched the champions cattle parade. The Queen was also presented with a posy of white Yorkshire roses by Emily Wilkinson, aged four, before the couple left the showground.
The Queen first visited the show in 1949 as HRH Princess Elizabeth. She attended again in 1955 and then again in 1977, her Silver jubilee year. She was the YSA patron from 1952 until 1998 when the Prince of Wales took over.
12:52pm Thursday 10th July 2008
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