Soaps

In Pictures: The Queen visits Coronation Street

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief

Published: July 8 2021 | 15:47

Last updated: July 9 2021 | 20:55

The Queen visits the set of Coronation Street after the soap marks an impressive 60 years of being on the air.

The Queen paid a special visit to the set of Coronation Street in Manchester today.

The 95-year-old previously visited the iconic soap in 1982 with her late husband Prince Philip and returned today to congratulate the cast and crew for staying on air during the coronavirus pandemic and reaching the milestone of 60 years last December.

Soap veterans Bill Roache, Barbara Knox, Sue Nicholls and Helen Worth greeted her outside the Rovers Return, while the younger members of the cast presented her with gifts including one of the street's cobbles, Newton & Ridley beer mats and a bottle of Weatherfield gin.

"For everyone who works on Coronation Street this was a very special and very personal event," said John Whiston, ITV's MD of continuing drama.

"We felt deeply honoured to have Her Majesty walk down the cobbles and visit The Rovers.

"I hope Her Majesty went away knowing how much her visit meant to us in the North after what has been a very difficult and dark 18 months.

"It has been a real morale boost for all of us as we come out of the pandemic and look to the future.

"And with so many doors in Buckingham Palace, we hope Her Majesty will find a use for an original Coronation Street cobble. They make very effective doorstops."

The Queen visits Coronation Street on July 8, 2021 © Reuters