WITH The Queen poised to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee in 2022 we have looked back at her strong affinity with the county over the past 70 years.

In 2022, she will become the first British Monarch to celebrate 70 years of service, having acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952 when she was 25-years-old.

Throughout next year, Her Majesty and other members of the Royal Family will travel around the country to undertake a variety of engagements to mark this historic occasion culminating with the focal point of the Platinum Jubilee Weekend in June.

In the UK, an extra bank holiday has been created and the traditional Spring bank holiday moved from the end of May to the start of June, to create a special four-day Jubilee weekend from Thursday, June 2 to Sunday, June 5.

The government has promised a “once-in-a-generation show” that will “mix the best of British ceremonial splendour and pageantry with cutting edge artistic and technological displays”.

It will be the first time that any British monarch has celebrated a Platinum Jubilee and, for the first time, Jubilee beacons will be lit in every capital city of each Commonwealth country to mark 70 years of The Queen’s reign.

Locally, towns and cities throughout Wiltshire are planning street parties, lunches and other events to mark the celebrations.

The Queen’s early official visits to Wiltshire began on November 15, 1950 with a trip to Swindon for the Borough’s Jubilee celebrations.

She visited the Great Western Railway works to officially name locomotive No. 7037 ‘Swindon’, the last ‘Castle’-class train to be built at the Works.

Her Royal Highness then moved on to be greeted by thousands of flag waving children when she opened Moredon playing fields as part of her second engagement of the day.

Queen’s Park was the next stop of the Royal cavalcade, where the Princess unveiled a plaque to commemorate her official opening of the Garden of Remembrance.

Her first trip concluded with lunch at the Town Hall with the Mayor and other Swindon dignitaries, together with a number of specially invited guests.

She returned to tour the Duchy of Cornwall estates in 1952, and visited the United Services Point to Point in 1953, and Swindon on November 5, 1971, when she inaugurated the town’s new Civic Centre, which included the Wyvern Theatre.

The Queen visited the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in Warminster on May 4, 1984, and inspected the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on June 24, 1988.

On August 8, 1990 she visited the Kennet & Avon Canal Leisure Centre in Devizes and Swindon on November 7, 1997. Her visit is very well remembered by the pupils and staff of Gorse Hill Infant School where the Queen took time on a whistle stop tour to open their new nursery.

“It was a fantastic day for everyone at the school,” remarked the Headmistress at the time, Mrs Prisca DaCunha.“Her Majesty was so kind and warm and it was an honour that the Borough choose us for the visit.”

Beforehand, Her Majesty paid a brief visit to the Brunel shopping centre and later had lunch with civic leaders at Lydiard House.

The Queen returned to Swindon on October 23 1998 to open the new £82 million Motorola manufacturing facility in Groundwell.

On December 7, 2001 The Queen and Prince Philip visited Calne, Chippenham and Malmesbury on a tour postponed from March 16 2001 due to the foot and mouth disease outbreak in that year.

She inspected troops at Tidworth Barracks in March, 2007 and on June 12, 2008 visited the Royal Artillery Centre at Larkhill.

On May 1, 2012, she and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Salisbury Cathedral and the Army Museum during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

On May 26, 2016, The Queen conducted The Captain General’s Tercentennial Review of the Royal Register of Artillery, Larkhill, and returned on March 3 2017 to inspect the Royal Welsh Regiment at Lucknow Barracks in Tidworth.

Finally, the Queen and Prince William toured the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down on October 15.

The visit was the Queen’s first outside a royal residence since the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic began.

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