An estimated 300,000 people saw Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during their flying visit to Newcastle in 1954.
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The royal couple's first visit began when they stepped off the train at Newcastle Railway Station and took in No.1 Sportsground, the showground and the steelworks.
"Familiar with her lovely features from studying hundreds of photographs, Press pictures and films, they expressed an oft-repeated saying: 'She is more beautiful than her pictures show,'" the Newcastle Herald gushed in its page-one report on February 10.
"From the station through the streets to the City Hall the cheers rolled from section to section as the Royal car proceeded on its way.
"In three-and-a-half crowded hours yesterday Queen Elizabeth captivated Newcastle."
Television footage from 1954 shows huge crowds, people scrambling across flower beds next to City Hall to keep up with the "royal progress" and Her Majesty positioned alarmingly close to a working BHP blast furnace. So close she reportedly left rubbing "grit" from her eyes.
The Herald said 44,000 schoolchildren gave the couple a "rousing welcome" at the showground, describing the Queen as a "small, dainty figure with a captivating smile".
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Her 16 Australian tours include Newcastle stops in 1954, 1970, 1977 and 1988.
Lord mayor's wardrobe malfunction
A wardrobe malfunction interrupted the busy itinerary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip when they visited Newcastle on May 10, 1988.
After sailing overnight from Sydney on the Royal Yacht Britannia, the couple dashed from the foreshore to Customs House and then to City Hall, where they acknowledged the huge crowd at Civic Park with a wave from the balcony.
During a break in official duties, Prince Philip leaned across to then Newcastle lord mayor John McNaughton and said: "John, your missus tells me you've torn your strides."
It was true. Beneath the flowing mayoral robes, McNaughton was hiding a tear in his trousers and his knee was bleeding. The hole was hidden behind paper clips while his driver rang ahead to ferry in a second pair of pants to save the day.
McNaughton's pants had snagged on the extended wings of two seagulls of the official insignia on the mayoral car's bumper bar.
"I was going around the car when I heard this terrific rip," he said.
The Queen, hearing of the incident, said, "Show me, you poor thing", then adding, "We'll wait until you change your pants."
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