Wellwishers line the streets of east London for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee visit

 
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Royalty came to Redbridge today as the Queen made her first stop on her Diamond Jubilee tour of London — and the borough declared it “a dream come true”.

Nearly 10,000 wellwishers waving Union flags and council staff wearing Corgi jumpers lined Valentines Park, as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh chose east London for the first of six visits to the capital’s suburbs.

Wearing a Stewart Parvin cream silk dress with a blue and green floral print, a powder blue wool crepe coat and a hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan. the Queen walked through an avenue of wellwishers after her car was met with cheers and flanked by excited schoolchildren running alongside it.

Some had arrived at the gates at 7am to secure a place as soon as the park opened at 7.30am and dozens of schools allowed pupils to attend.

Two giant screens were erected in the park welcoming the Queen, as performers on stilts and in fancy-dress walked the route entertaining the crowds.

The Duke also entertained after spotting someone in a mobility scooter and asking him: “Have you knocked anybody over yet?”

Aisha Mokal, 30, who brought two of her three children, Riqua, seven, and Vaneeza, five, and her 10-year-old nephew Izn. Mrs Mokal, from Ilford, said: “We always read about queens and princesses in the story books. To have the Queen in our neighbourhood it’s like a dream come true.”

The outer London borough, the ninth largest by area in the capital, had never seen anything like it. Its previous claim to fame had been its links to actor Ian Holm, TV presenter Noel Edmonds and boxer Nigel Benn, while singer Jessie J was a schoolgirl at Mayfield High School. Known as the “leafy” suburb, around 270,000 residents live there, with its Art Deco Tube station granted Grade II-listed status last year.

Michael Lane, 59, and his wife Ingrid, 53, from Redbridge, arrived very early and Mrs Lane said: “The Queen is comparable with Queen Victoria, she’s had such a long reign and we probably won’t see it again for many years.”

Boris Johnson praised the huge turnout: “I think people revere her for 60 years of outstanding service to this city. She has seen it through the worst of times and the best of times.”

The Queen and the Duke toured a “London Pride” exhibition, organised by Sir Terence Conran, before a lunch with 210 “community achievers” in Walthamstow. They were later visiting the Krishna Avanti primary school in Harrow — Britain’s first state Hindu school.

Gold coin is 'timeless tribute'

A London entrepreneur has created the world’s most expensive Diamond Jubilee souvenir — a £125,000 gold coin, right, featuring the Queen wearing a crown of diamonds.

Sanjiv Mehta, chief executive of the East India Company, commissioned the Royal Mint to make 60 of the 1kg coins, one for each year of the Queen’s reign, to mark India’s reputation as the jewel in the crown of the former British Empire. It will also make 60 in silver, at £25,000 each.

Indian-born Mr Mehta, a gemologist of Harrow, said the coins are meant to be a “timeless tribute” to the Queen. “It’s about a lady who has served the nation for many years.”

Boris flies flag

Every school in London will be sent a Union flag to fly on the Jubilee, Boris Johnson told the Queen today.

His plan to distribute the metre-wide flags to more than 2,500 schools will cost £20,000 and be paid for out of his events budget.

Mr Johnson said: “London school children should take pride in our past and fly the flag as the Jubilee kicks off a summer like no other.”

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