11-Year-Old Royal Superfan Remembers Last Visit
As Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Radio Aire has been looking back at Her Majesty's most recent visit to Leeds.
The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, came to the city in 2012 as part of their Diamond Jubilee tour.
She began with a visit to Leeds Arena, followed by a trip to the City Varieties and a walkabout on Briggate.
One little boy was more excited than most to welcome the Royals to the city. Junior Frood, 11, says he might just be Her Majesty's greatest fan.
"I was waiting there for four hours, and then finally she came," he says.
"Prince Philip walked down my side and the Queen walked down the other side. I was upset because I'd waited all that time and she was on the other side.
"Then Prince Philip came up to me and we got talking, and I asked if he could give the flowers and a letter I'd written to the Queen. He said 'how about if you give them to her?' Then Prince Philip's royal aides picked me up and put me over the barriers, and I went to the Queen and gave her my flowers and the letter."
Junior, who's from Morley, later received a letter back from the Queen. He told Radio Aire it was an amazing experience: "I'd never got that close to a member of the royal family before.
"She was very kind and nice. I didn't expect her to be that friendly. It's quite amazing that she's lived that long, and longer than everyone else. I appreciate what she does in the world and in England."
Today Queen Elizabeth passes the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.
Her Royal Highness, who is 89, will have reigned for 63 years and seven months.
She will spend the day on official duties in Scotland, while Prime Minister David Cameron will lead tributes in the House of Commons.
(Pictured above: Queen Elizabeth II unveiling a plaque in the Queen's Concourse when she opened the new Town Centre at Seacroft - the new development on the outskirts of Leeds.)
On the Thames, a flotilla of vessels will take part in a procession between Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, and the BT Tower in central London will display the message 'long may she reign'.
Here in Leeds, Junior has long been paying tribute to the Queen, in the form of books, flags, pictures and plates displayed all over his bedroom.
(Pictured above: Queen Elizabeth II meets the crowds during a walkabout on Briggate in Leeds city centre as part of the Diamond Jubilee Tour.)
He isn't quite sure why he's such a big fan of the Queen, but his mother Kerry says it has always been that way: "He's always followed the Royal family, right from a very young age.
"I took him to Buckingham Palace at the age of two and from then on he's just adored the royal family!
"He's desperate to meet William and Kate. He absolutely adores them.
"When we went to Buckingham Palace we got talking to the people that work in there and Junior expressed how much of a fan he was. They took him into some secret places where no one else is allowed to go. So he actually saw some of her private rooms."