Bromley gets a visit from the Queen

The Queen was treated to traditional Jubilee street party ahead of next month's big celebration in Bromley, before sitting down to tea and cake with couples celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in the same year as her Diamond Jubilee.

A cold May day it may have been, but the welcome could not have been warmer as crowds lined the streets in the town centre. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were greeted by six thousand flag-waving schoolchildren.

Fashion designers showed off their work to the Queen and one special couple got to share their 60th anniversary celebrations with a royal guest of honour.

Cyril and Evelyn Sergeant, both 86, got married on February 23 1952 and said meeting the Queen made their diamond anniversary even more special.

The Queen also looked at a series of displays celebrating London as a global centre of fashion and inspected an exhibition of outfits from every decade of her reign, including a cream Hardy Amies ballgown from the 1950s, an Ossie Clark number from the 1960s and a Biba dress from the 1970s.

Mark Butterfield, from the C20 Vintage archive, which provided many of the outfits, said the Queen recognised two dresses from the 60s because they will be appearing on stamps.