Queen is greeted by thousands on Weymouth and Portland visit

As she stepped on to the Esplanade a roar went up from the patriotic crowd of supporters young and old.

This was the Queen’s first taste of Weymouth’s sands and she was able to experience the highlights that King George III may have sampled when he put Weymouth on the map as a resort in 1789. As she shook hands with the town’s officials, a young girl from the crowd shouted ‘you look lovely’ which sparked more cheers from the eager crowd up and down the Promenade, from out of window sills and on roof gardens.

The first attraction for the Queen to admire was a 20ft-wide sand sculpture of Windsor Castle, made by Mark Anderson and his team.

The Queen, resplendent in turquoise, congratulated the sand sculptor and asked how long it had taken to make, while Prince Philip pointed out where his bedroom was on the model castle.

Sand sculptor Andrew Stallwood said: “The Prince said the castle was a true likeness of Windsor Castle – which we were pretty pleased with.”

Punch and Judy puppeteer Mark Poulton showed the Queen his Victorian Punch and Judy stand and talked to her about the long lasting connection with the Royal family.

He said: “The Queen was very gracious and I told her about how members of the Royal family have been watching shows like mine for years.”

Whilst the Queen and Prince Philip strolled towards the donkey concession one cheeky donkey Sooty stuck his tongue out which sparked laughter from the Prince as he bent down to touch the animal’s tongue.

Owner of the donkey attraction Maggie Aldridge said: “I just couldn’t believe it when we were picked to be part of the day.

“The Queen came up and asked me where the donkeys were from and was interested in what we do here – I feel really privileged that I got to meet them.”

As the Royal party moved around the beach they greeted groups of schoolchildren who were busy making sandcastles for a big competition.

The St John’s Church of England Primary School from Weymouth were victorious with their sculpture of a Union Flag and all 30 children were congratulated personally by the Queen.

Year Six teacher Joanne Smith said: “The children were so excited when she came over to us to say well done and to look at the sculpture.”

The Queen was then presented with a bouquet grown by Southill Primary School pupil Josh Bolton, 8, who told her the flowers were all grown in their school garden.

Groups of children from Wyvern Special School were playing in the sand making a starfish when the Queen and Prince Philip walked up to them and greeted them.

Teaching assistant Sue Marshall said it was a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ and that the children were really honoured.

Former mayor Roy Gainey and his wife Barbara, also a former mayor, had front row seats to watch the Royal visit.

Mr Gainey said: “We saw her last time she came and it’s an honour to see her again today.”

After the visit, the mayor of Weymouth and Portland, Anne Kenwood said: “We have been absolutely delighted to have hosted the Queen and Prince Philip’s first visit to Weymouth beach and the sailing academy on such a wonderful day. We were particularly pleased to see so many people, particularly young children on the beach helping to show off Weymouth’s seaside at its best.

“The number of people that turned out to see so the visit was great and I would particularly like to thank all the people that have contributed to making the day such a success.”

THE ROYAL VISIT TO PORTLAND

Waves of people welcomed the Queen and Prince Philip to Portland in glorious sunshine.

Residents at Wyke Regis lined Portland Road and crowds of schoolchildren cheered as the Queen’s Bentley arrived at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

The couple were driven to Portland for the first stop on their tour of Dorset to meet dignitaries and representatives of the sailing academy.

Among the officials to welcome them were the mayor of Weymouth and Portland Anne Kenwood, the High Sheriff of Dorset Victoria McDonaugh and South Dorset MP Jim Knight.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh saw first hand how youngsters enjoy the facilities as children took to the sea in dragon boats, kayaks and laser picos.

Sailing academy chairman Edward Leask called it ‘a momentous day’ for the academy in his speech before the Queen unveiled a new plaque in front of the hundreds of people.

Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the 2012 Olympic Games organising committee, proudly showed off the first Olympic venue to be ready alongside representatives from the Olympic Delivery Authority.

The Queen and Duke took a look inside the academy and spoke to more visitors including the chairman of Dorset County Council John Peake, who said she took the time to speak to everyone inside including schoolchildren from Portland.

Among the schools who cheered throughout the visit were Underhill Junior School, Sunninghill Preparatory School, Southwell Primary School and Wyvern School.

The royal couple signed the academy’s visitors’ book before they left on a Sunseeker yacht to make the trip to Weymouth seafront.

Adam Greaves, aged 12, of Southwell, Portland was delighted to meet Prince Philip and had 'new hair, new everything' for the day.

His mum Mandy said: "It's a great honour to be invited and we feel very proud to be part of the day."

Sisters Elizabeth Hollis, aged 85, Kathleen Howard, aged 83, and Pam Wells, aged 75, said they were 'lucky' their holiday to Portland coincided with the Queen's visit.

Elizabeth said: "We were living in Reform on Portland when the war broke out.

"Then we moved away and later our grandparents bought a bungalow in New Street so we used to come every year for our holiday.

"We're very lucky to be here for the Queen's visit."

Alana Hughes, aged 11, of St George's Primary School almost missed out on her chance to meet the Duke when she pulled a ligament in a hurdling sports event.

Alana limped in on crutches to attend, despite having a pulled ligament and tendon in her leg.

She said: "It was a great honour and a once in a lifetime experience.

"I'm going back to school now to tell my friends.

"I woke up and said 'I really want to go school' so I could go and meet the Queen and Prince Philip."

Alana and fellow pupil Matthew Peacock, aged 11, were chosen to accompany deputy head teacher Jo Luxon after they wrote letters saying why they wanted to go and were then picked out of a hat.

Mrs Luxon said: "It's such a lovely opportunity for the children.

"I had to sneak her colleague Helen Mullender in, to help Alana get around.

"Helen had 10 minutes to get ready and find her passport, marriage certificate, get dressed and come.

"The Duke asked Alana if she had hurt herself sailing and she explained she did it at the South Dorset Sports Hurdling competition.

"He asked if she was going to spend her holiday here and she said yes."

Mrs Luxon added: "He also asked me where we were from and I said we're one of the largest primary schools on the island.

"I told him our school paid for our pupils to sail out of it's budget and he thought that was quite interesting."

Portland Town Mayor Richard Paisley said: "The Queen just said hello and shook hands.

"The Duke knew I'd only been mayor for four weeks.

"He said the burden of office will weigh heavy over the course of the year.

"He said I'd probably lose four stone with the burden of duties.

"I laughed and said 'I've already lost 10' and that I was 29 stone and 12 pounds stone last August.

"He just laughed."

Mayor Paisley added: "I was quite surprised by how switched on he was."

Flower girls Lottie Mae Lloyd-Worth, aged five, and her cousin Thea Piriou, aged four, have been excited all week about presenting bouquets to the Queen.

Their grandma, Barbara Perry, the catering manager at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, also got to meet the royal couple.

Thea's mum Hannah Piriou said: "When they asked my mum if she knew any five-year-old girls she put their names forward.

"They've been excited about the day all week and have had new dresses and flowers in their hair."

Lottie's dad Ian Lloyd-Worth added that the girls had been practising their curtsies all week.

"It was a very big day for them and they're going back to Radipole Primary School now to tell everyone they've met the Queen."