Brighton welcomes Queen and Duke

12:49pm Thursday 8th March 2007

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The Queen smiled at the crowds as she walked the short distance from the Theatre Royal to the Jubilee Library, where she was entertained by the Silver Sounds Band playing outside.

Inside the library, parents and their toddlers treated the Queen to a number of children's songs as she sat smiling while flanked by civic leaders and library officials.

The Duke, meanwhile, was being entertained by a trapeze workshop at the nearby Pavilion Theatre, where he met participants from the Arts Award.

Outside the library, the Queen accepted flowers from small children waiting patiently outside in the sunshine with their parents.

Seeing the Queen receiving so many blooms provoked jealousy in two-year-old Lucas Whisker, who held out his hand - leading the Queen to oblige by handing him one of the flowers that a young girl had just given her.

Lucas's mother, Clare Milner-Smith, 34, from Seven Dials, Brighton, said afterwards: "One of the little girls handed the Queen some tulips and Lucas took one from the Queen."

Later, the Queen and the Duke joined civic leaders, including Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex Phyllida Stewart-Roberts, Brighton and Hove Mayor David Smith and Sussex Police Chief Constable Joe Edwards, for a locally-sourced lunch at Brighton Racecourse.

The menu included ham hock and smoked chicken terrine, followed by herb-crusted rack of South Downs lamb. They also feasted on a selection of Sussex cheeses including Bestbier Sussex Blue, which is not yet on the market.

In addition, the royal party enjoyed Flower Mary, a soft sheep's cheese made at Greenacres Farm in Golden Cross, near Hailsham, and Olde Sussex, a traditional Cheddar-type cheese made in Stonegate, near Wadhurst.

Racecourse general manager Matt Hudson said the Queen regularly runs horses at the venue and her last winner was Hunting Tower on the final day of the 2006 season.

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