As news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II sinks in, thoughts are turning to the future and what it might hold for the new King Charles III.
But for now, in the days leading up to her funeral next Monday, the people of Britain and the media are understandably looking back and reflecting on the Queen's unprecedented 70-year reign - a timespan longer than many across the nation have been alive. She came to the North East - usually with the trusty Prince Philip by her side - many times during those years.
Our 25 photographs from the ChronicleLive archive recall some of her many visits to the region. Most were official engagements and openings, with lots of shaking of hands. But one, in particular, stands out as being a little different and rather more informal.
READ MORE : Kate Bush's 2022 'song of the summer' - and a visit to Newcastle in 1980
It was Friday, May 27, 1960, when the 34-year-old Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, dropped in for a cup of tea with the residents of a council house in Newton Aycliffe. Our photograph shows the royal visitors looking very un-royal on the day, rather resembling in-laws popping round for a visit. The story made newspapers around the country with the Birmingham Post, for example, reporting how the couple stopped off at the home of Mr and Mrs William Llewelyn as part of a day of engagements at locations around County Durham.
Mrs Lucy Llewelyn, 33, afterwards told the press: "I asked them in to have a cup of tea, and the Queen had tea with lemon in it, and the Duke had tea with milk and sugar." Mr Llewelyn, 36, a junior railway foreman, added: "It was wonderful how natural they are, and how at home they make you feel."
The visitors must have enjoyed their visit, with the newspaper noting: "The Queen and the Duke spent more time than was scheduled for the visit with the Llewelyns" and as a result had to slightly re-arrange other County Durham engagements on the day which included several in Peterlee.
READ NEXT:
-
There is a new king, but what of his namesake Charles I who was once held captive in Newcastle?
- Tyneside criminal mugshots from the 1900s - in colour
- He needs 20 more bottles to have the world's biggest Newcastle Brown Ale collection
- Gritty images of Newcastle's West End in 1968
- Newcastle in the early 20th century - 10 photographs
