Queen Elizabeth visited York as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour of England yesterday (05.04.12).
The British monarch was greeted by some 15,000 people as she arrived in the historic city in Northern England for a double celebration, of her 60 years on the throne and of it being 800 years since York was given a Royal Charter.
The queen was accompanied by her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh and granddaughter, Princess Beatrice on the trip, which saw the royal party arrive by train, before being escorted to Micklegate Bar, the historic gateway which has been used for Royal visits since 1212.
The royals took part in the Royal Maundy Service at York Minster. As part of the occasion the queen distributed Maundy money to local pensioners, in recognition of their service to their community and church, a tradition going back to the 15th century.
Yesterday 86 women and 86 men - one for each of the Queen's 86 years - received money from the Queen, among them Alan Thompson, 84, from Scarborough.
He told the Yorkshire Post newspaper: ''I don't know who I was nominated by, but it was a lovely surprise.
''It was wonderful to meet her and a great privilege.''
The royals then had lunch at the city's Mansion House, the Lord Mayor's official residence, and later visited '1212: The Making of the City' exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum.
During the tour, Princess Beatrice said she had ''thoroughly enjoyed'' her first official visit to York, and said she may return in the summer.
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