The Queen has stopped by the Rovers during a visit to the set of Coronation Street.

The head of state took a 40-minute tour around the home of the ITV soap on Thursday as it celebrates its 60th year airing on TV screens.

Wearing a teal Angela Kelly outfit, the Queen met the cast and crew of the show.

The royal also popped into the studio where the interior of the Rovers Return Inn is filmed.

She chatted to actors who play staff at the bar, talking about how the everyday lives of ordinary northerners are reflected in the soap.

Sally Ann Matthews, who plays Jenny Connor, landlady of the fictional pub, told the Queen: “We know as actors how fortunate we’ve been to keep working when so many in the industry, it’s been so badly affected […] and a pub, as the hospitality sector has been so badly affected as well.”

Sally Dynevor, who plays Sally Webster, said: “The great thing about Coronation Street is that we manage to have the comedy with the drama so that’s been a really, really important thing over the lockdown as well.”

Antony Cotton, who plays Sean Tully, added: “We’ve tried to make people laugh along the way.”

To laughter, the Queen replied: “Well, there wasn’t much to laugh about, was there?”

The Queen began her tour with actors like Bill Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, and Barbara Knox who is cast as Rita.

They greeted the Queen with bows and curtsies outside the Rovers Return.

Roache told the Queen he had first seen her when she visited Jamaica in 1963, when he was serving as an officer with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

The Queen, who asked how they had managed to keep filming during the pandemic, replied: “It’s really marvellous you’ve been able to carry on.”

Roache then replied to laughter: “Well, ma’am, you’re the one who has carried on.”

The Queen also met the fictional “Bailey” family, and was told the set’s cobbles were the original ones taken from the old Granada street set in Manchester, before it moved three miles up the road to the new ITV Studios in 2013.

She then chatted to backstage production staff, including writers, camera operators, set designers and sound engineers, as well as cast members who live on the “posh” side of the street, over the road from the terraced houses.

Before leaving to cheers and applause, the Queen was presented with a “Corrie Cobble” from the original set, specially engraved by a local stonemason and some Newton & Ridley beer mats.

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