Salford gets ready to welcome Queen at Quays

SALFORD'S MediaCityUK is preparing to welcome the Queen as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour, writes Alex Dorweiler.

The monarch is due to formally open the BBC studios and HRH Prince Philip will open the University of Salford's new campus.

Shoppers in the Lowry Outlet mall in Salford today gave their reaction to the Royal visit.

Sue Copping, 71, from Sale Moor, said:  “I think we should feel privileged really for the Queen coming to visit.”

“The Queen is unique and she’s ruled this country for a long time now and really she deserves praise. Though I’m not a fan of the Royal Family as such, I think she’s done a grand job.

“I’m not sure if the expenses attached to the celebrations are justifiable with everybody else cutting back.”

Mary and Helen from South Manchester were shopping at the Lowry today as well.

Helen said: “It’s good that she’s coming up to Manchester, it’s nice. We all like her.

“I think there is a need for her. She attracts a crowd from abroad and is a symbol of British unity.”

But she was critical of the cost of the Jubilee celebrations.

She said: “It is a waste of money.

“There are so many people who are struggling at the moment and yet they can find the money to do it to the extent they are.”

Mary added: “My husband always said, ‘If she wasn’t there we would be no better off’, so I do think it’s nice to have them.”

The Royals will arrive at Victoria Station at about 10.30am before moving on to the Eye Hospital on Oxford Road by 10.45am.

Onlookers should congregate on the Boulevard – which runs through the centre of the hospital site – for a glimpse of the Queen, but are recommended to arrive by 10.30am.

She will cut the ribbon on the multimillion pound refurbishment of Central Manchester hospitals.

After meeting staff and patients, she will hear a specially-commissioned piece of music, composed by the Royal Northern College of Music.

She will then formally open Media City in Salford Quays at around 11.40am.

Crowds are expected to gather at the piazza outside the BBC studios and on the green in front of Salford University’s new campus.

Trams and buses to Media City are expected to run as normal.

As the Queen tours the BBC’s Quay House studios – home of Match of the Day and CBeebies – Prince Philip will be opening the university’s new media centre.

The Royal couple will then return to Manchester for a reception at the Town Hall.

The Queen last visited Manchester during her Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.