Leicester was the first stop on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour.
Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duchess of Cambridge, visited the city on Thursday 8th March.
The royal party visited De Montfort University and Leicester Cathedral, where they had lunch, before making their way to the Clock Tower in the city centre.
It was a fantastic day for the people and city of Leicester. See all our latest pictures of the visit at
Facebook.com/leicestercitycouncil and on our
Royal Visit Up Close page.
Welcome from the City Mayor
They were welcomed by the City Mayor Peter Soulsby, Deputy City Mayor Cllr. Rory Palmer, and Assistant City Mayor Cllr. Manjula Sood.
The City Mayor also presented the Queen with a gift from the city of Leicester.
A gift from the city
To commemorate the big day, we produced a special photo album for Her Majesty the Queen, which featured pictures of past royal visits to Leicester. These images go back to 1953 and up to her last visit in 2008.
Many thanks to Leicester Mercury and the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland for helping us create this special photo album.
We've also created an
electronic version of the album so you can get a feel for the real thing.
You view this, you'll need Flash Player plug-in software (available from the
Adobe website*). If you can't use Flash, you can view an
accessible HTML-based version of the photo album instead.
A honour for Leicester
City Mayor, Peter Soulsby said before the visit: “It is a great honour for Leicester to be the first stop on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour.
“The eyes of nation and indeed the world will be upon our city, and I am confident that between the city council, the Cathedral and De Montfort University we will give the royal party an outstanding welcome that the whole city can be proud of.
“I hope that people from across the county will come to the city centre to share in our celebrations and to mark this historic event.”
The route around Leicester
The royal party visited several of our most known locations and venues in and around the city centre. Their itinerary is below:
- The royal party arrived at Leicester railway station at 11.30am.
- They were taken to De Montfort University, arriving at Magazine Square at 11.45am.
- At 12.30pm, the visitors went to Leicester Cathedral for a service.
- After the service, the royal party walked to nearby St Martin's House for lunch, at about 1pm.
- At around 3.00pm, the royal party were driven along High Street to the Clock Tower.
- There they were introduced to City Mayor, Peter Soulsby, at around 3.05pm.
- The visitors then watched a street performance, based on the Hindu festival of Holi, on a stage beneath the Clock Tower.
- The party left Leicester around 3.30.
Jubilee Square announced
City Mayor, Peter Soulsby, has also unveiled plans for a new public space in the historic heart of Leicester city centre.
The open space will be named Jubilee Square to mark the Queen’s visit Leicester in the year of her Diamond Jubilee. Get all the detail at leicester.gov.uk/jubileesquare.
Get social for the Diamond Jubilee
Want to share your Diamond Jubilee visit pictures and stories? Then get social at Facebook.com/JubileeTour.
Use Twitter? Follow Twitter.com/jubileetour and use the #jubileetour hash tag when you tweet your stuff.
Help make it a day to remember
Add your favourite image of the visit to a special digital mosaic being created by the Diocese of Leicester.
Find out more and how you can contribute at jubileetour.co.uk*
See what the local media are saying
Get the very latest local coverage on the visit (and the Diamond Jubilee) on the bbc.co.uk/leicester* and the Leicester Mercury* websites.
* Leicester City Council is not responsible for the content and services on external websites.
