The Queen and Duke give their Royal approval to Capital of Culture
22 May 2008
THE Queen and Duke of Edinburgh toured Liverpool today to mark the citys year as European Capital of Culture.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh tour Liverpool _320
Her Majesty and Prince Philip will visit the Philharmonic Hall and St George’s Hall and the new Liverpool ONE complex, and offi-cially open the Echo Arena Liver-pool and BT Convention Centre.
Liverpool Daily Post reporters, photographers and video journalists will keep readers up-to-date via a live blog, giving a blow by blow account of the royal visit to give readers an intimate account of the royal visit.
The Royal train arrives at Lime Street station at 10am and the party will head for the waterfront to unveil a plaque at the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) Liverpool, at the Kings Dock.
They arrive at Liverpool One around 11am, where the Duke will perform the topping-out ceremony of the latest building in the project to be completed.
Outside St George’s Hall, the Queen will be entertained by Viennese ball dancers and bands taking part in the Streetwaves project, before joining 200 guests for lunch, including representa-tives from the arts and cultural life of the city.
The Queen, who is the patron of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO), will arrive at the Philharmonic Hall at 2pm, where a brass quintet from the youth orchestra will play a welcome fanfare.
The welcoming party will include RLPO president Lord Derby, chairman Lorraine Rogers and chief executive Mick Elliott.
The Queen will hear the youth choir, conducted by Simon Emery, before meeting representatives from the Phil's associated ensem-bles, supporters, funders and part-ners, the Royal party will hear a short performance by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orches-tra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, of Brahms' Variations on a Theme of Haydn.
ACC Liverpool chief executive Bob Prattey said: “It’s an enorm-ous privilege to be welcoming the Queen. ACC Liverpool is a magni-ficent symbol of the city’s rebirth and we’re sure Her Majesty will be left with a sense of the impact it has made.”
THE Liverpool One project came a step closer to completion this weekend, as the flagship Debenhams store was handed over to the company by the contractors.
by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post
Index |