Thank you Ma'am for taking time to recognise our town / Rachel Bayley Burnley Place Brand Manager Economy and Growth

Of course, we knew this time would come – she was, after all, an incredible 96 years old. But she is also all we (the majority of us) have known and she did have an everlasting aura about her.

It is poignant, therefore, that we celebrated her 70th jubilee in our recent edition of Burnley Lifestyle magazine.

In our special feature, we have included dozens of photos of people celebrating the recent platinum jubilee in summer, but also the 60th jubilee. Ten years ago, several members of the Royal family visited our borough.

Our streets were lined with children waving Union Jack flags, flags hung from buildings and the sun was thankfully shining as Her Majesty the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles arrived in our borough. Indeed, it is a rare occurrence for three senior royals to embark on such a tour together and the special memory will no doubt be etched in the minds of many of us.

I tried to research whether there are any places in the UK the Queen hasn’t visited. Google did not provide me with a definitive answer, but considering Burnley has been blessed with Her Majesty on more than one occasion, I think that makes us very lucky indeed.

And, with Prince William and Kate Middleton also recently visiting Burnley and our new King’s very public passion for heritage and our Weavers’ Triangle, we are in a blessed position indeed.

During her 60th jubilee visit, the Queen acknowledged the incredible efforts that had gone into transforming the borough. If the Royal Highness had blessed us with a visit for her 70th jubilee, she would no doubt be even more amazed at how far Burnley has come since her last visit.