Queen visits Coronation Street set to mark 60 years of soap

The Queen has visited the set of Coronation Street to help celebrate the soap's diamond jubilee.

Her Majesty was given a tour of the ITV drama's studios in Trafford, Greater Manchester, including a stop off at the Rovers Return pub.

The monarch, who celebrated 60 years on the throne in 2012, also walked down Weatherfield's famous cobbled streets, meeting cast and crew members.

Her trip also saw her meet community groups at Manchester Cathedral.

The Queen previously visited Coronation Street in 1982 at its original studios in Manchester before the soap moved to Trafford in 2013.

On a 40-minute tour of the set and studios, the Queen met a host of cast and crew of the show, walking beside the cobbled street before popping into the studio where the interior of the Rovers Return is filmed.

Bill Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, Barbara Knox who is cast as Rita, Sue Nicholls who plays Audrey and Helen Worth, known to millions of soap fans as Gail, greeted the monarch with bows and curtsies outside the famous pub.

Roache told the Queen he first saw her when she visited Jamaica in 1953, when he was serving as an officer with the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

The Queen, who asked how they had managed to keep filming during the pandemic, replied: "It's really marvellous you've been able to carry on."

Roache replied to laughter: "Well, ma'am, you're the one who has carried on."

During the visit, the Queen was told the set's cobbles were the original ones taken from the old Granada street set in Manchester, before it moved three miles down the road to the new ITV Studios in 2013.

Kate Spencer, who plays Grace Vickers, warned Her Majesty: "Hard to walk on, as well, in heels."

To laughter, the Queen looked down at her shoes and replied: "No, I know. I've been told. Probably better not."

During the later visit to the city's cathedral, the Queen was treated to a medley of Queen's hits performed by the Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus as she met a variety of community groups.

The head of state's visit marked the 600th anniversary of the Collegiate Church of Manchester, which became a cathedral in 1847.

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