The Queen, Duchess Catherine and The Duke of Edinburgh's visit to Leicester

We had such a lovely day on Thursday (8th March 2012). It was the first day of The Queen's diamond jubilee tour and as I told you in an earlier post, her first stop was where I live- Leicester!
I absolutely love the Royal Family, so you can imagine how excited I was- I was expecting to meet Kate and become best friends!
The night before, I looked up their itinerary and we decided that we would leave our flat in the city centre at 11am and walk down to Magazine Square, which is where DeMontfort Uni is, and after the train station was going to be their first stop.
We got to the opposite side of the square and had to stand there, as it was already full of people waving flags and waiting for The Queen's arrival. 
The cars came along, after the police escorts at 11.45am on the dot and the crowds went wild, waving flags, clapping and cheering, and there they were, across the road from us! The queen looked lovely in bright pink, waving and smiling at everyone, but I unfortunately didn't get to see Kate, so we decided to go on to the clock tower later to get another glimpse.

The Queen, Prince Philip and Duchess Catherine arriving at Magazine Square.

Heading for the red carpet.

Their car waiting for their return.

We popped to Starbucks for a Caramel Machiatto and then decided to go and wait at the Clock Tower to see them again. There was still around 2 and a half hours to wait until they were due to arrive and my husband thought I was crazy, going to wait so early, but we were so glad we did! There were big crowds already forming and luckily we got to the front, but a little further from the Clock Tower, where they were going to be.

There were some brilliant street performers and we got to see the dancers rehearsing, so we were kept entertained. People were handing out flags and others were chatting and making new friends, it was just such a lovely atmosphere.

Some of the street performers.

We knew that The Queen was on her way down the street before we saw her, as people were cheering, screaming and clapping and then we saw the cars. I almost screamed!!! I was right next to Kate, there she was in the car waving and smiling at us all, she was just so beautiful, she looked every inch the princess.

They got out and watched the dance that had been rehearsed for them, then went and sat down while a speech was made and The Queen was presented with a photo album and she unveiled a plaque. We then all sang the national anthem and gave three cheers for The Queen, it was just such a lovely day!