VISITORS to a Northern dale can now enjoy a cuppa – surrounded by royalty.

For a new cafe in Stanhope, in Weardale, County Durham, may not boast royal guests in person, but it is decked out in regal memorabilia.

The jubilee-themed tea room was created by fervent monarchist Anita Atkinson, who owns the country’s largest collection of royal memorabilia.

Mrs Atkinson, 55, has thousands of mementos crammed into her house, in Harperley, near Crook, County Durham, and wanted to share her passion with the public.

So she teamed up with friend Christine Dodd, 58, of Helmington Row, to open the cafe, which they believe is the only one in the country dedicated to the British monarchy.

Royal Teas opened on Saturday – the Queen’s birthday – and was officially opened by the Queen’s cousin, Princess Elena of Romania, yesterday.

Mrs Atkinson, said: “I have so many things, and most of it is stuffed away in suitcases and hidden away, so this way everyone can enjoy it.

“There are hundreds of items inside, but it hasn’t made a dent on my collection at home.”

Mrs Atkinson held the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of royal memorabilia until December 2010, when a woman in Australia took her crown.

Visitors to Royal Teas are greeted by a life-sized cut-out of the Queen, sit on hand-painted Union Jack chairs and can spend a penny in its throne room – resplendent with Union flag toilet and soap.

Diners can enjoy high tea on royal china and, if they are there at 3pm, they must stand when the national anthem is played each day.

Mrs Atkinson said: “People are bowled over by it. There are so many things, they don’t quite know what to look at first.

“It’s just meant to be fun, it’s jubilee year and this is a celebration of that.”

Items on display date from 1838, the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation, to the modern day, including a knitted royal wedding.

Mrs Atkinson hopes the cafe one day gets the royal seal of approval, adding: “If the Queen wanted to come, she would be very welcome. We wouldn’t charge her.”