Cheers for the Queen as she unveils plaque at Cambridgeshire hospital

The 93-year-old began with a visit to the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) near Cambridge to celebrate its centenary where she planted the tree to mark the occasion, Long-serving employee Teresa Stratton, who has worked at NIAB for 41 years, said she told the Queen: “We’re the only place in the UK that does grape research and she was very interested. She told us they were growing vines at Windsor and although she probably wouldn’t drink the wine she was quite interested in it.” Chief executive Dr Tina Barsby said: “I mentioned that English wines were becoming more and more popular and better quality, and she said she doesn’t drink wine but she hears they’re very good.” The Queen first visited in 1969 to mark its 50th anniversary. After leaving NIAB she had lunch at Queen’s College University of Cambridge, of which she is a patron, then went to the Royal Papworth Hospital to officially open its new site in Cambridge. She was accompanied by the Duchess of Gloucester as she toured Britain’s leading heart and lung hospital, speaking to staff in the critical care unit and patients on a post-surgery ward. Children waved flags as the Queen arrived, and crowds of hospital staff gathered in the corridors with their camera phones aloft to catch a glimpse of her. There were loud cheers and applause as she unveiled a plaque in the hospital’s main entrance to mark the formal opening. The Royal Papworth treats more than 100,000 patients from across the country each year and carried out the UK’s first successful heart transplant in 1979.