It was the visit royal watchers have been waiting for since it was announced at the beginning of this month. The excitement was building earlier this morning as everyone waited for The Queen and The Duchess of Sussex to disembark the Royal Train at Runcorn Station.
Upon their arrival, Her Majesty and The Duchess were introduced to architects, planners and community representatives. The Queen and the HRH viewed the bridge and then watched a performance by local school children called ‘Bringing Communities Together: Halton’s river crossings over the ages’.
At the end of the performance, The Queen unveiled a plaque to mark the opening of the bridge.
The Queen and the Duchess of Sussex then departed by car for Storyhouse in Chester, where they were given a tour of the building to visit the children’s library, stopping to meet a Syrian settlement group engaged in craft work.
There Her Majesty and her granddaughter in law watched a performance by ‘Fallen Angels’, a dance theatre company for people in recovery from addiction, before moving to the theatre to see a medley of songs from Storyhouse’s latest production, ‘A Little Night Music.’
Today’s visit also saw schoolchildren from local primary schools perform songs alongside actors from ‘Swallows and Amazons’. Her Majesty unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of Storyhouse.
The Queen and The Duchess of Sussex also marked a moment of silence today to honour those who lost their lives in the terrible Grenfell Tower tragedy that happened a year ago today.
The Queen and the Duchess then walked to Chester Town Hall, where they attended a lunch as guests of Chester City Council, which marked the conclusion of their visit to Cheshire.
For the fashion followers, The Queen wore Stewart Parvin, which some may recognise as Her Majesty has previously worn today’s outfit in France for
D-Day commemorations and an Ireland State Visit.
The Queen’s hat is Rachel Trevor Morgan.
The Duchess of Sussex went with her wedding dress designer, Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy, Sarah Flint heels and carried a Givenchy cross body bag.
Today marked Meghan’s first visit without Prince Harry.
Her first solo visit with the Queen was a bit quicker than her sister in law, The Duchess of Cambridge. Catherine accompanied the Queen on a visit to Leicester in 2012, during her Diamond Jubilee tour, around 11 months after her marriage to Prince William.
Photo Credits: Many thanks to Chris Ship of ITV