DIAMOND Day in Hereford was a time when the Queen smiled with Ledbury people and expressed genuine pleasure and, at times, surprise at their achievements and projects.

More than 15,000 people packed into the George V Playing Fields today and everyone must have approved of the joyful anthem that announced Her Majesty’s arrival, with the 1,000-strong choir singing Parry’s “I Was Glad”, shortly after 10.40am.

But it was the Queen’s visit to the Ledbury marquee, the first one on her tour of marquees, which will persist in local memories.

Ledbury style was on show from the off, with a guard of honour into the marquee comprising of sailors from the minesweepers, HMS Ledbury.

Brenda Hill, who for fourteen years has organised the annual Carnival Princess competition, was surprised and delighted to find herself shaking the hand of the Queen, when the Royal hand was offered.

She said: “It was a wonderful experience; the highlight of those fourteen years.

“She had such a lovely smile. I’ll try not to wash my hand again!”

Carnival Princess Phoebe Rogers, aged nine, had the daunting task of present a bouquet to the Queen.

Phoebe said: “She said hello and I said hello back, and I curtsied, then said 'Your Highness' and presented the bouquet, and she thanked me.”

Ledbury Rotary Club member, Jan Long was amazed to get a Royal seal of approval for Rotary’s Jubilee time capsule, which will be buried in Ledbury’s Walled Garden next month.

She said: “The Queen told me that it was a wonderful idea, and our MP Bill Wiggin said it was the best time capsule he had ever seen!”

The steel capsule has been made from a Jumbo Jet oxygen tank and its cargo for posterity will include letters and items from Ledbury Primary School and the John Masefield High School, letters from a host of local organisations and businesses, and copies of the Ledbury Reporter and Hereford Times.

It fell to Ledbury’s Mayor, Cllr Phill Bettington, to show Her Majesty around the marquee, after his own grandson, Joshua Bettington, aged ten, also presented her with flowers. Cllr Bettington said the Queen expressed surprise when she heard that Ledbury had won five gold medals in the Britain in Bloom competition, and she also showed great interest in Jaguar Landover’s off-road testing site, which is based in the grounds of Eastnor Castle. She also paused at the John Masefield Society stand, to discuss her former Poet Laureate, who was born in Ledbury.

And Masefield was something of a theme at the marquee, not least because the banner on the front of the marquee was a quote from a Masefield poem about Ledbury.

The poem “Wonderings” begins “A little town of ancient grace,” and its use for the big main banner was suggested by former Homend trader, Margaret Eager.

Cllr Bettington said: “The Queen was such a nice lady, and I felt very privileged to meet her. It was an unbelievable experience.

“She talked about Ledbury’s poet, John Masefield, and Landrover, and she was smiling all the time.”