Details of Queen’s Diamond Jubilee visit are confirmed

Buckingham Palace has previously only said the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh would be coming to the city some time this week.

Now it has been confirmed that their visit will take place on Thursday.

The Queen and the Duke will attend a topping-out ceremony at the site of the new Leeds concert arena, being built on Clay Pit Lane, near the Merrion shopping centre.

They will meet construction workers and apprentices before watching a number of musical and acrobatic performances.

The royal couple will also be visiting the recently-refurbished City Varieties Music Hall, off Briggate.

There they will unveil a plaque and watch a Good Old Days-style performance by the City Varieties Youth Theatre Company.

The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Ann Castle, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Her Majesty the Queen to Leeds as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

“It is a tremendous honour for the city and we hope lots of people come along to see her and make it a very special day.”

The Queen is travelling to every region in the country during the tour to celebrate her 60 years on the throne.

Other members of the Royal Family are carrying out overseas tours of Commonwealth countries on behalf of Her Majesty.

Thursday will mark the monarch’s first visit to Leeds since her Golden Jubilee in 2002.

Then she was cheered by crowds in Millennium Square and took a tour of the set of TV soap Emmerdale on the Harewood estate.

Going further back, the Queen met sculptor Henry Moore at Leeds Art Gallery in 1982 and opened Seacroft Civic Centre in 1965.

The Good Old Days was a long-running BBC TV show, filmed at the City Varieties and featuring entertainment acts in the style of a Victorian and Edwardian music hall.