Your memories of the Queen's 60 years

Throughout the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, we are featuring some of your memories of meeting and seeing the Queen during her sixty years on the throne.

While 2012 sees the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, she has already marked her Silver Jubilee in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee in 2002.

Both saw national and local celebrations including parades and street parties.

Here you share some of your memories of the Queen's previous Jubilees.

I was 10 and as part of the celebrations for the Queen's Golden Jubilee my Brownie pack went to Exeter to see the Queen at Exeter cathedral and the Golden Jubilee parade.

I didn't really know what it was all about but went along because of everyone else's excitement!

We were in our Brownie uniforms and waited behind the barriers all day.

The Queen arrived and went into the cathedral.

We had lots and lots of bunches of flowers and one of the people with the Queen came over and asked us if we would like to meet her when she came out of the cathedral.

We'd bought the flowers hastily from a supermarket earlier that day, after my friend's mum thought it would be a nice touch but I think it was because of our flowers and Brownie uniforms that we were asked to meet the Queen!

The police lifted us over the barriers and we were escorted to the front of the cathedral and briefed on a few 'rules'.

When the Queen came out and walked over to us it was all very surreal.

She was much smaller than I'd imagined.

She was very polite and smiled despite us all excitedly taking photos of her and said thank you for the flowers, which were taken by some of her attendants.

I remember she said how pretty the flowers were and asked us which Brownie pack we were in - the 7th Barnstaple Brownies.

Imogen Curtis is 20 and lives in Nottingham

In 1977, when I was 11, I was chosen to represent my primary school in Londonderry when the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Andrew visited.

We'd all had to do a project in school on the Queen's Silver Jubilee and I'd decided to do an album with a page for every year of the Queen's reign, with something special from each year on each page.

My mum was a real royalist and as a family the Queen was very important for us.

It was a wonderful experience for me and possibly even more for my mum as she had kept her own scrapbook of the Queen from the days when she was Princess Elizabeth.

She allowed me to cut up the old photographs and cuttings from real newspapers and magazines and stick them lovingly into a home-made album.

The day itself was just marvellous.

I remember practising how to curtsey and what I should say to the Queen and how demure but pleasant she was when I gave her my album.

In those days people used to say the monarchy was outdated and should be done away with, but when you're far away and looking at what is happening for her Diamond Jubilee, you really wish you were there!

Living here, I do miss the monarchy and feel closer to it now than I ever did when I was living in the UK.

Paula McIlwaine is 45 and lives in Thessaloniki in Greece

I was living in London in 2002 decided to join in the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee parade.

I walked through St James's Park, soaking up the party atmosphere and then onto the Mall, where I watched the parade.

The Queen came by in her golden coronation coach, with Prince Philip beside her.

It all flashed by so quickly, but I remember just feeling privileged that I was sharing in a moment that would never happen again.

When they closed The Mall and everyone walked down towards Buckingham Palace it was amazing.

I'm not a royalist, but it felt really special.

Patriotic is the wrong word to use, but it felt like we were all part of the celebration of living in the UK.

Then the Queen and the Royal Family came onto the balcony and the crowd roared.

It was one of the things that you want to tick off that you've done - standing against the railings at Buckingham Palace, seeing the Queen and the Royal Family on the balcony and their delight at the occasion.

Ann Marie Meaney is 43 and lives in Edinburgh

My recollections of the Queen's Silver Jubilee on 7 June 1977 are very vivid!

Our only son Christopher was born on that day and I can clearly recall the medical staff leaving me alone in the labour ward for a short while, as they scrambled around the small television set in the next ward, to try and catch a glimpse of the Queen and the Silver Jubilee celebrations!

I think that I got a glimpse of the Queen on the television at one point!

I remember the night before better, when I was still at home - beacons were lit across the country.

He was the only baby to arrive in the hospital that day and the midwife even wrote "Jubilee baby" on his little hospital wristband!

There was general excitement throughout the hospital that a "Jubilee baby" had arrived.

Various retail outlets presented Silver Jubilee gifts, including a beautiful Nottingham lace christening gown and a silver crown coin and engraved silver tankard.

As the only Jubilee baby in the hospital he also had his photograph in the local rag.

For me, this Jubilee brings back all of those memories of 35 years ago.

Freda Woods is 65 and lives in Bangor, County Down