THE Queen shared her 50th jubilee celebrations with thousands of her subjects in Durham on Wednesday.

The Monarch and Prince Philip, who visited East Durham during the morning, had lunch in Durham Castle and met Durham University Chancellor Sir Peter Ustinov and local dignitaries, including the city's new mayor Eileen Rochford.

The Royal couple then went on a walkabout in the Market Place, delighting the many bystanders.

And the day turned out to be extra special for a group of six and seven-year-olds from Durham High School. They were selected from the crowds of well-wishers to present Her Majesty with a bouquet.

While Prince Philip set off for the university's Stockton campus, the Queen visited the city's new Millennium City complex.

In the Durham Clayport Library she met schoolchildren and pensioners from Age Concern who are working on computer projects.

The Ever Ready Brass Band, from Stanley, performed a specially-commissioned piece of music called The Golden Treasury.

The Queen saw the Northern Opera rehearsing Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci in the Gala Theatre and also officially opened the complex by unveiling a plaque in Millennium Place.

Earlier the Queen had visited the scene of one of Britain's worst mining disasters. Eighty one miners, two rescue workers and two horses died in the 1951 Easington Colliery explosion. Her Majesty met three former rescue workers who still vividly remember the day of the disaster.

She concluded the second day of her visit to the North-East - on Tuesday she went to Newcastle and Sunderland - by visiting Darlington.