Royal first as Queen goes to the pub

THE QUEEN resisted the temptation to enjoy a lunchtime tipple when she took a break from her busy schedule for her first-ever visit to a pub yesterday.

The visit to the 900-year-old Bridge Inn at Topsham, Devon, was arranged after palace officials spotted the Bridge Inn's page on the Internet. They were so impressed with its traditional, village pub image that they contacted the landlady Caroline Cheffers-Heard and asked if they could bring the Queen.

During her visit, the Queen was was presented with a bottle of special 101 ale brewed to mark the number of years that the Cheffers-Heard family has run the pub. She was also given a crate of the ale to take home. Accepting the gift, she said she was sure her husband would enjoy it.

After the visit, Mrs Cheffers-Heard said: "I didn't offer her a drink and she didn't ask for one, but it would have been nice to have served her. It has been a great privilege to have her here."

The visit was part of the Queen's tour of the South-west. She also visited the regional centre of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, and the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre in Lympstone.

Beyond Her Majesty's experience

Things the Queen has never done:

Said: "A pint of lager for me and a G&T for me mum please"

Run for a bus

Had an early night instead of watching the Royal Variety Performance

Snogged in the back row of a cinema

Squeezed into a Tube train in the rush hour

Eaten fish and chips from a newspaper with her fingers

Negotiated an overdraft

Watched the Trooping of the Colour live on television

Rattled a stick along the railings at Buckingham Palace

Sworn in public

Bought a ticket for the Tube

Cycled the wrong way up a one way street

Started a Christmas broadcast with the word "Hello"

Wondered what she'd do with the money if she won the lottery

Called anyone "Ma'am".