Pretty in pink: The Queen looks stylish in pastels on tour in Manchester today... as she comes face-to-face with a Dalek



The Queen looked stylish in a beautiful pink outfit as she arrived in Manchester for a day touring the city today.



Hundreds of people warmly welcomed the Queen as she officially opened new hospitals in the city, as well as paying a visit to Manchester's new media hub in Salford, MediaCityUK, where she started a fun run with the wave of a flag.



The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, arrived in the city by train, disembarking in at Manchester's Victoria Station this morning.



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The Queen looked stylish in powder pink today as she made an appearance in Manchester today The Queen looked in high spirits as she arrived in the city today, where she was to open a children's hospital

The Queen and Prince Philip travelled by train to the Northern city, disembarking at Victoria Station in central Manchester

The Queen's busy schedule involved opening Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital and a new wing at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

The royal party enjoyed hazy spring sunshine as they arrived at the hospital trust, as hundreds of people lined the streets and clapped and cheered and waved union flags.

The Queen and Duke met staff and patients and listened to a specially commissioned musical work by the Royal Northern College of Music during their visit to the hospital trust.



The Queen dressed perfectly for the beautiful sunny day in the pink creation, which was designed by her longtime in-house couturier Angela Kelly.



She accessoried the pink linen dress and wool coat with a ruby diamond fan brooch.

Later the Queen officially opened the massive MediaCityUK development at Salford Quays, where BBC North has its HQ.

On a tour of Salford's MediaCity, the Queen was confronted by Dr Who's infamous baddie, the Dalek

The Queen was amused by the set of the BBC's children's channel Cbeebies, which has made its new home at the BBC's Salford centre



Hundreds of schoolchildren and adults cheered and waved Union flags on her arrival, with one youngster handing her a home-made greeting card saying 'Welcome to Salford' and a posy of flowers.

Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, and Peter Salmon, director of BBC North, accompanied the royal visitor on a tour of the buildings.

First stop was the studio where Match Of The Day and Football Focus is filmed.

Ex-Liverpool defender, now pundit, Mark Lawrenson and German former player Didi Hamann, an ex-Liverpool midfielder, were rehearsing an edition of World Football Focus - broadcast to an estimated 300 million viewers.

Show presenter Dan Walker gave the Queen a run-down on how the programme is put together, before the royal visitor was escorted to the Children’s TV studios, where CBBC and Newsround are broadcast.

There the Queen was greeted by children’s show presenters Chris Johnson, Ore Oduba and Cerrie Burnell.

Her Majesty is given a warm welcome by hundreds of well-wishers lining the streets of Manchester The Queen is handed a bunch of pink and purple flowers by a well-wisher

As part of the day's tour, the Queen waved the flag to start the Sport Relief 2012 fun run at Salford's MediaCity

And the Queen was also given a display of puppetry by the characters Hacker T Dog and Dodge T Dog, Phil Fletcher and Warrick Brownlow-Pike respectively, who present links between children’s shows.

'We thought you might bring the corgis with you?' Hacker T Dog said - before the puppetmasters appeared from beneath the desk to reveal themselves with a bow.



'That’s very good, isn’t it?' the Queen said.



She was then shown to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra’s studios, where they were rehearsing Pictures At An Exhibition, by Mussorgsky, before the Queen listened to music by the Salford Family Orchestra.

John Whittaker, chairman of Peel Group, developer of the site, spoke before the Queen pulled the cord to unveil a plaque for the official opening of the development of the MediaCityUK site.



He said that, in 1894, Queen Victoria opened the Manchester Ship Canal, on the banks of which MediaCityUK now stands, and the exact spot where they were standing used to be Dock 9, opened by King Edward VII in 1905.

'To have you here is a very, very special and memorable occasion for us,' Mr Whittaker said.



'Thank you for coming, my congratulations on your Diamond Jubilee and may you reign over us for many, many years to come.'

The Queen was escorted to a second BBC building on the site, Quay House, and on the way she walked the length of barriers holding back cheering well-wishers, taking cards and flowers from delighted royal fans.

She was shown around the Sports Hub at Quay House, which will be used in the production of this summer’s London Olympics.

Before leaving MediaCityUK there was one final, noisy, royal appointment.

On the quayside the Queen took to a podium for the start of a Sport Relief Mile run by around 600 participants, many of them BBC employees.

The bi-annual Sport Relief charity event broadcast by the BBC begins tonight with the charity appeal and an expected one million runners raising cash over the weekend by taking part, running a sponsored mile to raise funds for good causes.



