did the queen visit sheffield

A look back at Her Majesty the Queen's incredible visits to Yorkshire

The Queen visited a number of towns and cities across Yorkshire during her remarkable reign

• 05:00, 9 SEP 2022
• Updated 06:32, 8 SEP 2023

During her time on the throne, Her Majesty the Queen attended countless public engagements, visiting towns and cities across the globe.

Her Majesty made many visits to Yorkshire during her 70-year reign. Her first visit to the county was in July of 1949 shortly after her wedding to Prince Philip. She began a three day tour of the West Riding where 50,000 people gathered to welcome Her Majesty at Roundhay Park.

The visits continued over the years and she returned for many openings, centenaries and anniversaries. Here we take a look back at the visits Queen Elizabeth II paid to our region.

Read more: King Charles marks first anniversary of the Queen's death by paying touching tribute and releasing favourite photo

King Charles III released the message to mark the first anniversary of his mother's death

The Queen visited Doncaster in 1953 during her Coronation year. She was accompanied by then Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. During her visit she attended Doncaster Racecourse and was also welcomed at York Racecourse and the Harewood Horse Trials.

The Royal Family were no strangers to the Great Yorkshire Show. On three occasions, The Queen visited the show in Harrogate. The first occasion was during her 1977 Silver Jubilee year.

It was during her visit to the show in 1977 that she went on to make a number of appearances across the county visiting York, Hull, Wakefield and Leeds where she made a special visit to Elland Road Stadium to watch a Youth Festival in her honour with 40,000 people. Most recently, the Queen made a visit 12 years ago on the show's 150th anniversary.

Being the Monarch, Queen Elizabeth was in attendance at a number of major openings often seen up and down the country. In Yorkshire, The Queen officiated the 900th anniversary of Selby Abbey in 1969 and the opening of the Humber Bridge in 1981 - in which she distributed the Royal Maundy money seven times.

Starting in 1949 the Queen made her first visit to Huddersfield, along with her husband Prince Philip they visited Ramsden Street and then in 1990 the Queen visited again to open a rugby club. In 2007 crowds met her again in St George's Square.

In 1950, The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, visited Beverly Minster. Her Majesty later returned on July 12, 2002 and attended a service at Beverley Minster and visited the racecourse.

On April 4, 1985, The Queen met with the Lord Mayor of Harrogate for a walk along Station Parade. The day after she visited Fountains Abbey, no stranger to Royals as the Queen Mother would often visit these historic, ancient ruins.

In 1993 she visited Hull to board the Royal Yacht Britannia which arrived in King George Dock during her visit. In June of 1999 the Queen made another trip to Hull, arriving at Paragon Station to be greeted by the Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire, Richard Marriott.

The people of Bradford were witness to Royal visits from the beginning of her reign right until her Diamond Jubilee. Often crowds would gather in the city's Centenary Square, the first occasion was just a year-and-a-half into her reign.

18 months after her coronation on Thursday, October 28, 1954, the Queen visited Bradford as part of a nationwide tour which followed months of state visits to Commonwealth countries. This was Bradford's first Royal visit since 1942 when King George VI Queen Elizabeth toured the city in the wartime.

The Queen also visited the cricket ground at Bradford Park Avenue, and was sang to by 30,000 school children. She and Prince Philip returned on November 12, 1974 to officially open the city's police headquarters.

On March 27 - 1997 - with Prince Philip - the Queen visited for a third time for the centenary of Bradford's royal charter, she distributed Maundy money and visited Centenary Square to unveil a plaque and pay respects at the Bradford City fire memorial.

Their fourth visit came on May 24, 2007 when the Queen and Prince Philip returned again to Centenary Square, arriving at Bradford Interchange where they were introduced to Yorkshire dignitaries with hundreds of cheering people. She was given flowers by the daughter of murdered Bradford policewoman Sharon Beshenivsky.

On July 19, 2012 Saltaire was draped with red, white and blue when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the World Heritage Site as part of their Diamond Jubilee tour of the nation. Her Majesty also visited South Yorkshire a number of times. In October of 1954 she and Prince Philip visited Sheffield to attend schools and walk the streets to greet the people, only a couple of years after she was crowned Queen. In 1975 during a Royal tour, The Queen opened Barnsley's new markets and visited Cannon Hall.

In 2010, Her Majesty was back in Sheffield watching a 3D display at the University of Sheffield Research Centre. She and Philip returned again in 2015 to attend an Easter Service, once again handing out Maundy Money.

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The Queens visit to Sheffield 1954

By gregconn June 1, 2012 in Sheffield History & Expats

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I believe this topic has been touched upon before in this forum, but with the Diamond Jubilee this weekend could we cast our minds back on what memories do you have of the visit in 1954. Any photographs anybody?

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I remember that day because I wagged school because I didnt want to go to Hillsborough to see her as I didnt have any love for the Royals & I still dont.

I was there with my school, at the Leppings Lane end!

A day in my life I have always laughed about since on many occasions !

I was only 7 at the time. All my pals were either over at Hillsborough or elsewhere.

Mom and Dad and my older brother were at work, so Mom in her wisdom decided the safest place for me was inside Highfields Library on London Road. Reading and looking through all those books kept me occupied for hours.

Suppose today's Mother's would lock a 7 year old in the house and leave them with all that technology.

In 1954 a 7 year old was given plenty of freedom.

I attended Hillsborough infants and Junior school by Sheff. Wed. Football ground , before we moved, shortly after King George V1 died in 1952. However I well remember a visit by Princess Elizabeth and Phillip before 1954 , circa 1951/1952 , where she paraded round Wednesday Football ground in an open Series One Land Rover, and of course we were dragged to see this spectacle given the day off school

Nobody seems to remember this earlier visit by the then Princess Elizabeth ?

Gary Marshman

I was 7 at the time and remember waving my little flag along with everyone else on the streets of Hillsborough

Re your visit to Wednesday Football Ground, are you talking the same memory as I am , before she was Queen.??

Was it in fact 1951/52?

old tup   Re your visit to Wednesday Football Ground, are you talking the same memory as I am , before she was Queen.??   Was it in fact 1951/52?   Gary Marshman

Do you know , I believe there was a childrens display, for the then Princess Elizabeth .

Its a long time ago and I was a mere 7 or 8 years old , and not particularly interested , as one was not at that age anyway.

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Think ‘Bridgerton’ or ‘Saltburn’ are scandalous? Here’s the sordid history behind these English country homes

From sex scandals to political intrigues, these are the real-life stories of 6 noble residences.

Through the rise and fall of the British Empire and into the 21st century, England’s country houses remain elegant symbols of aristocracy and wealth. Our fascination lies not only with their beauty, created by legends such as architect Inigo Jones and landscaper Capability Brown, but also with their social and political histories—especially those of the families who lived in them. The intrigues and assignations that unfolded in ballrooms and bedrooms are as compelling as the soapiest Bridgerton storyline or Saltburn plot twist. Here are the stories of six such estates now open to the public.

Wilton House, Wiltshire

Considered one of Britain’s finest examples of Palladian architecture, Wilton House has served as a backdrop for both melodrama and murder, the latter involving the seventh Earl of Pembroke, Philip Herbert (1652-1683). The hot-tempered earl, who owned 52 mastiffs, 30 greyhounds, and one lion, was accused of several violent crimes during his time at Wilton, including impaling a jury foreman on his own sword and kicking another man to death.

“You didn’t want to get on the wrong side of the seventh,” says Ben Cowell , director general of Historic Houses , a nonprofit organization representing 1,600 such landmarks in the United Kingdom. But Herbert got away with it, avoiding punishment thanks to his rank and privilege as a peer of the realm.  

In this century, Wilton went Hollywood. Its beautiful interiors and impressive south facade, designed by Inigo Jones and John Webb in 1647, appear in episodes of The Crown   and especially Bridgerton.   The Double Cube Room , named for its symmetrical proportions which Cowell describes as “truly stupendous,” serves as Queen Charlotte’s throne room in the Netflix hit series.  

(The perks and pitfalls of set-jetting. )

How to visit:   Wilton , near Salisbury, is open to visitors from March through December. Many come to see its artworks, including its Van Dyke portraits, and explore its 22 acres of gardens and grounds. Cowell suggests looking for the front hall statue of William Shakespeare, whose company performed at Wilton in 1603.  

Chatsworth, Derbyshire

At Chatsworth , history, scandal, and aristocratic intrigue converge against a timeless backdrop shaped by the visionary 18th-century gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown. The estate dates from 1687 but underwent many alterations including to its grounds, planned by Brown.  

In 1774, the house became associated with Georgiana Spencer (the great-great-great-great aunt of Diana Spencer) when she became the Duchess of Devonshire after marrying the fifth Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish. Georgiana was celebrated for her stylish parties, political acumen, prodigious gambling addiction, and unconventional love life. The duke’s mistress Lady Elizabeth “Bess” Foster was one of Georgiana's best friends and also, possibly, her lover . A polyamorous arrangement kept the three living together for years until Georgiana's death in 1806. Bess kept a lock of the late duchess‘s hair around her neck until the day she died in 1824.  

In the 20th century, Deborah “Debo” Mitford, one of the famous Mitford sisters, became another celebrated duchess of Devonshire. Her sisters included an author (Nancy), a communist (Jessica), and a Nazi sympathizer (Unity) suspected of a romantic fling with Adolf Hitler.  

How to visit: Debo is credited with rejuvenating Chatsworth, located 20 miles southwest of Sheffield, and transforming it into an attraction drawing 600,000 visitors yearly. The grounds feature overnight accommodations in estate cottages, aka “ boltholes ,” and shepherd's huts.

(Discover 12 of the U.K.’s best pubs.)

Althorp House, Northamptonshire

Star-crossed Diana Spencer , the late Princess of Wales, who riveted the world with her tangled romances, telegenic appearance, and tragic death, grew up in Althorp House, about 75 miles northwest of central London. “Weirdly,” Cowell says, “the name is pronounced Awl-trop.” (Diana’s brother, Charles, the current Earl of Spencer, specifies this pronunciation .)  

The family home for more than five centuries, the 13,000-acre estate got going in 1508 when prospering sheep farmer Sir John Spencer acquired the first parcels of land. Since then, it has been passed down through 19 generations. The house, initially a 1688 Tudor structure, underwent several architectural transformations with the grounds encompassing woodlands, farms, and an ornamental lake—its island holds Princess Diana’s final resting place where a Doric temple bears her name.  

How to visit:   Opened to the public since 1953, Althorp House welcomes guests during the summer months, typically from July to September. The house’s interior provides them an opportunity to explore its history and the legacy of its prominent inhabitants as well as the family’s collection of furniture and paintings. Cowell suggests hunting for the Rubens, Reynolds, and Gainsboroughs.  

Diana’s grave site is closed to visitors, but there is a memorial on the grounds where they can pay their respects to the mother of Princes Harry and William, the current heir to the British throne.

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Harewood House, Yorkshire

The institution of slavery tainted the massive profits that built the fortunes of the sugar-trading Earls of Harewood. The construction of their eponymous thousand-acre estate in northern England in 1751, featuring furniture supplied by Thomas Chippendale and landscaping by Capability Brown, was funded by the labor of enslaved peoples. Edwin Lascelles (1713-1795), an important sugar producer, and his family owned or controlled 24 plantations in Barbados and other Caribbean islands. Over 3,000 enslaved individuals were forced to toil in the Lascelles cane fields and in their sugar refineries until the British Empire finally abolished slavery in 1838. In 1922, Henry Lascelles married Princess Mary, daughter of King George V, further entwining the family's legacy with British royalty.  

The current Earl of Harewood, David Henry George Lascelles, has taken steps to confront his family's troubling past with educational initiatives aimed at raising awareness about the estate's connection with the transatlantic slave trade. Lascelles is also a member of the Heirs of Slavery group , advocating for reparative justice.  

How to visit: Today, Harewood House ’s gardens and estate are open to the public. Exhibits highlight the Lascelles family’s history as well as the lives of enslaved Africans .

Cliveden, Berkshire

Cliveden has a tumultuous history marked by feuds, flames, and political cabals that belie its handsome facade. The house was built in 1666 as a “hunting box” for the Countess of Shrewsbury, mistress to the Duke of Buckingham who killed her husband in a 1668 duel.  

Following a destructive fire in 1851, the current house was reconstructed and later sold in 1893 by the Duke of Westminster to William Astor, an American plutocrat. His son Waldorf and Waldorf’s wife, Nancy, fashioned Cliveden into an influential Edwardian social hub that spanned the political, cultural, and business worlds on both sides of the Atlantic.  

Nancy, a fabled host and first female member of Parliament, entertained guests such as Henry James, Edith Wharton, Charlie Chaplin, and, in the late 1930s, United States Ambassador Joe Kennedy and his family—including future president John F. Kennedy. The Astor gatherings weren’t without controversy. Many of their friends were believed to be Nazi sympathizers.

In 1961, the house would become central to another political firestorm after British Secretary of State John Profumo met 19-year-old party fixture Christine Keeler at a Cliveden party and began an adulterous affair. Keeler was also involved with a Soviet spy. Uproar around the story led to Profumo's resignation and contributed to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s own.  

How to visit:   Today, Cliveden is a five-star hotel about 30 miles west of London . Travelers can explore its history through 30-minute tours on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between March and October. The grounds are also open to visitors, inviting them to wander and conjure up the legendary parties and political deals that occurred here.

Knole, Kent

Knole, the sprawling Jacobean-era estate owned by the Sackville-West family, holds a prominent place in English LGBTQ+ history as the ancestral home of Vita Sackville-West , the writer and gardener whose lesbian love affair with author Virginia Woolf set tongues wagging in the 1920s.  

Originally built between 1456 and 1486 by an Archbishop of Canterbury, Knole at one point was a royal residence frequented by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. In 1605, Elizabethan power broker Thomas Sackville purchased the place. With 400 rooms, Knole House is larger than Buckingham Palace.  

But it is Woolf and Sackville-West, and their artistic circle known as the Bloomsbury Group, that have the most famous ties with Knole—though Vita would never inherit her girlhood home thanks to primogeniture. After her marriage, she and her bisexual husband, diplomat Harold Nicolson, lived elsewhere.  

How to visit: Knole’s curator, Eleanor Black, says the thousand-acre estate about 40 miles southeast of London is “accessible to the public 24/7,” with visitors invited to explore the grounds. (The Beatles did just that in 1967, filming a short for their song “Strawberry Fields” on the estate.) Though home to a new generation of Sackville-Wests, visitors can tour its showrooms, an assemblage Black describes as “a work of art put together with furniture, tapestry, and paintings.” Among numerous family portraits is one of John Frederick Sackville by Joshua Reynolds, but Black’s favorite is of Arabella Cope, John’s wife. “It’s a lovely painting of a formidable woman,” she says. The house serves as a set location for the current gay-themed Tudor tattler Mary & George on Starz.

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Filmmakers could improve cinema for the Deaf community, with new guidance from University of Sheffield

Improved captioning in the film industry could make watching film and TV more accessible and engaging for the Deaf community, according to new guidance published by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield-based research and design studio, Paper.

• Film and TV should provide high-quality captions to give Deaf audiences an equivalent experience to hearing people
• Research found Deaf audiences felt excluded from the cinematic experience due to poor quality, missing or lagging captions
• A team from the University of Sheffield, and Paper, a Sheffield research and design company, have published guidelines highlighting commercial opportunities for the media industry to improve the accessibility of entertainment

Members of the Deaf community, who have been Deaf all of their lives and use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language, took part in a research project which asked them about their experiences of watching films.

The team found that poor captioning stopped Deaf audiences effectively experiencing filmmaking techniques like suspense in storylines, which led to them feeling excluded from the cinematic experience.

The project has resulted in a new film ‘ Rethinking Subtitles ’ and six new guidelines for the media industry, highlighting the commercially viable opportunities that improve the accessibility of films and TV programmes for Deaf audiences.

Dr Ryan Bramley, an expert on the social impacts of film from the University of Sheffield’s School of Education, said: “For Deaf cinema-goers to experience storytelling techniques such as suspense as filmmakers intend, the captions have to effectively replicate the effects of the sounds in the film, and currently, they often aren’t.

“Our project found that improvement is needed for Deaf audiences to help them connect in deeper ways to the characters and plot of films and enjoy an equivalent experience of watching a film as hearing audiences do.”

The project was a unique collaboration, supported by the University’s Made Together Programme and Sheffield Innovation Programme , which brought Ryan and Dr Kirsty Liddard from the University of Sheffield’s School of Education together to conduct the research with Beth Evans and Jon Rhodes from Paper.

Beth, founder of SUBTXT Creative and researcher who initiated and led the project, is passionate about designing more accessible and visually engaging captions for different audiences. She said : "Filmmakers will often use sound to evoke certain emotions in their audience, such as feeling suspense. But certain captions that describe sound, such as [ominous music], may be quite subjective and perhaps have no meaning to someone who doesn't experience sound in the same way as the filmmaker. 

“Our participants explained that descriptions of sound are really important when watching a film as they see sound through captions. They told us that their experience was more immersive when captions had more detail about sound and music.”

Together the team worked with members of the Deaf community to find out how they experienced watching some well-known films with their captions such as Jaws , The Hunchback of Notre Dame and A Quiet Place .

Jaws , the Steven Spielberg classic, will inspire instant recognition amongst hearing audiences for its classic musical warning of the shark's appearance. The technique announces not only the shark's arrival, but that this is something to fear. The music is used as a specific trigger to create tension and the team wanted to know whether captions can translate the same emotions in these films to Deaf audiences.

Ryan said: “Our research found that certain descriptions of sound lacked key information that was central to the plot. For example, in Jaws , the participants were aware that there was “famous” music in the clip, but they told us that the captions did not convey that the music represented the shark getting closer. This impacted how much suspense they felt during the film.

“Because the Deaf community see sound in captions, delayed, missing, poor quality captioning, or too complex captioning, can result in Deaf cinema-goers feeling excluded and not treated equally to hearing people when watching films.”

The project has resulted in six new ‘Recommendations for Change’ for the media industry highlighting opportunities to improve the accessibility of entertainment, which have also been submitted as evidence to the UK Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s inquiry into British Film and High-End Television . The team believes that with the right attention, and the media industry actively working with Deaf media consultants, the recommendations could easily be enacted into cinema and TV and point to examples where this has already been done with success.

Beth added: “Programmes like Stranger Things have gone viral for their captioning being so immersive and creative. The captioners worked during filmmaking and got advice from Hollywood orchestrators to help choose the best descriptions of sound to encompass the genre and feel of the moment for Deaf audiences. 

“It shows how good captioning quality could be if it was given the same level of investment, collaboration and creative freedom as any other part of the film during production, instead of being an afterthought.”

The team’s recommendations urge film makers to invest more in captioning, to involve experienced Deaf consultants in the film-making process, and to take a more creative approach to developing captions. They include:

• Captions should be designed collaboratively by captioners, filmmakers and Deaf consultants. The design of captions should happen throughout the filmmaking process, and not as an afterthought.
• Creative captioning should be explored to reduce the effort Deaf viewers have to make to understand and feel immersed in the film. Filmmakers should rethink and redesign how audio is presented visually for Deaf audiences.
• Captions should be tested with Deaf audiences before a film’s release to highlight any miscommunication in the captions and ensure people are getting the intended experience of the film.
• Personalisation of captions should be explored to allow people to choose the style (for example, font, colour, size, placement) of captions, and the level of description or creativity used within captions to suit their preferences.
• UK cinemas need to be more accessible for Deaf people. For example, cinemas should offer more frequent and more convenient screening times for captioned viewings, and improve the accessibility of venue and marketing materials.
• More investment and allocation of budget is needed to fund innovation in captioning to create more accessible and immersive cinematic experiences for Deaf people.

Hamza Shaikh, Trustee of the British Deaf Association, was a participant in the project. He said: “I am delighted to be part of the University's wonderful research project, which recognises the imperative to diminish barriers for Deaf individuals, like myself, who have struggled to enjoy cinema outings fully. The lack of Deaf awareness and subtitles in cinemas breaches the Equality Act 2010 and the BSL Act 2022 and poses significant challenges for Deaf patrons.

“The British Deaf Association is the national representative organisation of BSL and ISL in the UK and our vision is to ensure a world where Deaf people can fully participate and contribute to society as equal and valued citizens. I hope this collaborative effort will catalyse the cinema industry to reevaluate its practices and prioritise accessibility for all patrons.”

Rebecca Ferguson

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Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Become First Royals to See Queen Elizabeth's Memorial Statue

The couple saw the statue in person for the first time since it was unveiled on the late Queen's birthday

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Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh are viewing Queen Elizabeth ’s historic memorial statue for the first time.

The first statue made in tribute to the late Queen following her death in September 2022 was revealed to the royal couple during their visit to Oakham, Rutland in England on May 14.

Video of the emotional moment was shared to X by GHR P'borough Stamford & Rutland News, where Edward, 60, and Sophie, 59, marveled at the statue of his late mother outside Oakham Library before a local crowd. 

While their reactions weren't caught on camera, the royal couple became the first members of the British royal family to see the Queen’s statue in person since its unveiling on April 21, which would have been the late Queen's 98th birthday.

The bronze statue, which stands seven-feet tall, shows Queen Elizabeth as a young woman surrounded by her beloved corgis atop a stone plinth. The effigy is "England's first permanent memorial to Her Late Majesty," following her death at age 96 in September 2022, the Rutland City Council stated at the time. 

Prince Edward and Sophie have been known as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh since his 59th birthday in March 2023, when King Charles conferred the title created for their late father, Prince Philip , on his youngest brother. Sophie became the Duchess of Edinburgh in the same sweep, inheriting the title used by then-Princess Elizabeth upon her marriage to Philip in 1947 and before her sudden accession to the throne in 1952.

Edward and Sophie traveled to Rutland, England's smallest county, on May 14, stepping out at Rutland County Showground and Oakham Castle by car before moving to Oakham Library to see Queen Elizabeth’s statue, per Lincs Online . 

The sculpture was commissioned by the Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland, Dr. Sarah Furness, after the Queen’s death and raised through $155,000 of donations.

"We are witnessing a piece of history today with the first statue of Queen Elizabeth to be commissioned since her death and who gave us 70 years of exemplary service," the lord-lieutenant said at the unveiling last month, per The Telegraph .

"Rutland may be a small county, but the response to this had been huge with contributions from local businesses and individuals of varying sizes," she added.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty 

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage?  Sign up for our free Royals newsletter  to get the latest updates on  Kate Middleton ,  Meghan Markle  and more! Prince Edward and Sophie’s trip to Rutland marks their latest outing as they have continued with royal duty as King Charles and Kate Middleton receive cancer treatment.

The King, 75, resumed forward-facing duties on April 30 and hosted an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on May 14, while the Princess of Wales, 42, remains outside of the spotlight.

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