A fanfare from trumpeters high on Micklegate Bar heralded the entry of the Queen and Prince Philip into York in the city’s anniversary year – it’s 1900th anniversary since the founding of the Roman city of Eboracum, that is.

The city took the Royal couple to their hearts. Crowds packed the pavements on either side of Blossom Street six deep and roared their delight as the royal couple were driven up to the Bar in an open Sovereign carriage, escorted by a troop of 60 Household Cavalry.

“Triumphal Ride: colourful spectacle thrills thousands,” proclaimed the headline on the front page of the Yorkshire Evening Press, above a stunning photograph of the royal cavalcade.

“Micklegate Bar, built 1196 to 1230, has seen many a Royal visit in its 600 years of history,” the front page story said. “But few can have been more colourful or spectacular than today’s.”

The cavalcade headed through York to the Assembly Rooms, where the Queen was due to lunch with 250 guests.

It was the first time for more than 300 years that the Household Cavalry had ridden through the city’s narrow streets, the Evening Press reported.

“It was an occasion York wanted to see. Huge crowds cheered and clapped as the Queen and Prince Philip smiled and waved… There were cries of, ‘Oh, doesn’t she look lovely’ from mothers struggling to hold their children aloft for a better glimpse.”

The Royal visit began at Rufforth, where the Queen and her husband stepped from their aircraft to be greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of York and the West Riding, Brigadier Kenneth Harding.

A Rolls Royce flying the Royal Standard then brought them to Knavesmire – just as a cloudburst drenched waiting crowds.

A 21-gun salute to greet the Royal couple as they arrived at the racecourse had an unforeseen consequence.

“The blast rattled windows nearby and children screamed with fright,” reported the Evening Press. “The Army gunners also got the blame for a sudden shower of rain which drenched thousands of schoolchildren, waiting to give the Queen a thunderous welcome.

“An ex-gunner said that to fire guns when there were low clouds was a bad thing to do, as it was bound to bring rain.”

Despite the weather, a royal flypast went ahead as scheduled, 21 jet provost aircraft from RAF Linton and RAF Leeming forming the letters ER in the sky shortly after York’s ancient Sword of State had been surrendered to the Queen by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Richard Scruton.

From there, the Queen and her husband made their way into York in their Sovereign coach, escorted by the Household Cavalry.

After lunch at the Assembly Rooms – where the Lord Mayor gave a toast and the menu included Scotch salmon and roast leg of lamb with asparagus – the Royal couple viewed a 45-minute excerpt from the York pageant, which traced 1900 years of the city’s history since its founding by the Romans in AD 71.

They then joined 2000 guests at a Garden Party in Museum Gardens.

Queues line up to meet royals during 1900th anniversary

THE people of York turned out early for the Queen’s visit in its 1900th anniversary year.

Road sweepers were up and about at the crack of dawn to make sure the city’s streets were spick and span, reported the Evening Press. Shop-keepers made final adjustments to their decorations, and all along the route the Queen would follow spikes hammered into cracks between paving slabs then string with a rope lined the streets where she would pass.

The first royal fans began to appear as early as 8am, even though the Queen wasn’t expected in the city centre for more than four hours.

Among the first to take her place along the processional route was 82-year-old Mrs Elizabeth Armstrong, from Buttermere Drive, in Clifton.

Leaning against a crash barrier, the octogenarian told an Evening Press reporter: “I always intended to come down this early. I shall never see a thing like this again, shall I?”