11 July 2002: A visit to the set of a well-known soap opera on the first day of The Queen's visit to Yorkshire A Royal visit to the Yorkshire village of Emmerdale went with quite a bang when the local post office exploded before The Queen's eyes. Fortunately, Emmerdale is a fictional soap opera village, and the explosion a staged stunt to demonstrate some of the dramas in which the soap's characters are involved. The Queen was on the television set on the Harewood Estate, near Leeds, to meet actors, technicians, producers and writers involved in producing Yorkshire Television's popular drama, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary. The Queen toured the set, which includes the Woolpack public house. Her Majesty then watched as special effects experts 'blew up' the village post office. The explosion drama was staged especially for The Queen, and will not be featured in any broadcast episode. Within an hour the effects team had rebuilt the post office. The Queen's day started in Leeds, where Her Majesty arrived by Royal Train the city's railway station. Leeds City railway station has been newly refurbished at a cost of £245m, the biggest single engineering project in the northern region for 30 years. In Leeds Civic Hall The Queen was met by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Brian North, who escorted Her Majesty into the Council Chamber. The Queen signed a commemorative scroll to mark her visit. Leaving the Council Chamber, The Queen continued her visit in the Banqueting Hall to attend a reception hosted by Leeds Financial Services Initiative. After meeting representatives of local financial organisations, The Queen was given a special edition of a publication charting the history of Leeds as a financial centre. Crowds of several thousands greeted The Queen outside in Millennium Square, before she departed for the set of Emmerdale.  While The Queen visited Leeds and the Emmerdale set, The Duke of Edinburgh travelled to Wakefield, where His Royal Highness visited the National Coal Mining Museum, Overton. His Royal Highness descended by lift for an underground tour of the pit. He later officially opened the new conference suite and interpretation centre and made a short speech. From there he travelled to Bradford Grammar School in nearby Bradford. Escorted by headmaster Stephen Davidson and the head prefects, Prince Philip toured the school's new buildings. They included a 6th form centre, a music school and a swimming pool. After the tour The Duke of Edinburgh unveiled a plaque to open the development. The Duke was no stranger to the school - he had last visited in 1949, when he opened the existing buildings. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh met up again at Harewood House, seven miles north of Leeds. Completed in 1772, Harewood House was built for the family of the Earl and Countess of Harewood, who still live there. The house, which is open to the public, is famed for its art collection and Robert Adam interiors. The Royal party was met by the present Lord and Lady Harewood. The Earl of Harewood is the cousin of The Queen, being the son of Princess Mary, the former Princess Royal and only daughter of King George V.  On the parterre of the house The Queen was greeted by 300 local schoolchildren, and met some of them before lunch in the house. After lunch The Queen made a short speech in which she paid tribute to the achievements of the county's inhabitants. "Yorkshiremen and women appear everywhere. When we were in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year I was reminded that it was from Yorkshire that Captain James Cook set out over 200 years ago. More recently, you have produced great modern artists, some of the world's best cricketers and umpires, and also a Speaker of the House of Commons!" The Queen also thanked the county for its support during her reign. "Over fifty years I have never failed to be impressed by the warmth, and the loyal support, wherever I have visited. So may I end by thanking every one of you for your kindness, generosity, and consistency over the last five decades. It is a very great pleasure for both of us to be here today." In the afternoon The Queen and Prince Philip attended the Festival Parade, a thirty-minute spectacular in front of Harewood House celebrating 50 years of military, sporting, cultural and community achievements in West Yorkshire. Presented by former Speaker of the House of Commons, Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the performance involved 1,000 participants from communities, choirs, bands and musical groups across the area. Other Yorkshire celebrities appearing were opera singer Lesley Garrett, Spice Girl Mel B and TV presenter Richard Whiteley. The Queen and Prince Philip met the parade's director, Michael Birch, and some of the performers, before departing for Temple Newsam, four miles east of Leeds. There The Queen welcomed the arrival in Leeds of the Commonwealth Games Relay Baton. Leeds was the 36th city out of 50 in Britain to welcome the baton on its way to its final destination at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in August. Read the full text of The Queen's speech in Yorkshire (pdf, 137kB) Back to July index