THE Queen and Prince Philip visited the Sage Gateshead music centre to carry out the official opening yesterday.

Architect Lord Foster said more than 600,000 people have visited since it first opened in December.

He said: ''People have really embraced it. The local community has really taken it to their hearts and are using it as a meeting place.

''People will travel here and want to see the building and hear performances.

''It obviously works on the level of acoustics and as a performance space.

''It is incredible that orchestras come from Vienna and they come here before they touch down in London.''

The venue boasts two performance halls as well as teaching facilities and has become a popular meeting place for local people who enjoy its vantage point above the River Tyne.

Later, Her Majesty expressed sympathy with the people of Kashmir yesterday when she met relatives of people whose lives have been devastated by the earthquake.

She met members of the Pakistan Muslim Association during her visit to Tyneside and heard about what British Asians were doing to relieve the suffering.

Raja Zafar, of Fenham, Newcastle, said: "She was asking about the situation in the earthquake area in Kashmir. She is very concerned about how it is affecting the people there and I was explaining how everything is being done that is humanly possible.

"The terrain there is very rugged, there is no infrastructure, there is rain and hailstones and the weather is getting bad so all the efforts are being hampered. But now all parts of the country that were affected have been sent aid and the international community has sent teams to the different areas."

The meeting with the Queen was organised with the help of Gateshead Council.

The Queen was joined by Prince Philip who, prior to their musical afternoon, visited the Washington Wetland Centre.

The Duke of Edinburgh strode across a muddy field to chat and laugh with youngsters at the wildfowl centre on the outskirts of Sunderland.

For most of his 30-minute visit to the centre, the Duke stayed on the main paths but at one point walked out into the mud to speak to pupils from the nearby JFK Primary School.

Year four teacher Rebecca Newsome said: "I thought he was very friendly. We were all surprised, but very pleased, when he came out across the mud and spoke to us.

"It was a lovely thing to do and all of the children were delighted."

Centre manager Chris Francis, who accompanied the Duke on the tour, said: "He knew all about the birds, and indeed told me what each of the birds were.

"He was very interested and it was very nice to see him make the effort to speak to the young children."

When asked if the royal visitor had made any comments about the current bird flu problems, Mr Francis replied: "He never mentioned a word about it."