I woke up and looked out of the window and it was raining, but that did not stop me from being happy, excited and a little bit nervous.

Mum took me into town to see Nigel, our hairdresser, to have my hair done. We then went to see where the marquee was and to work out the best place for Dad, Grandpa, Granny and Katie to stand so that they could see me. I was getting a bit nervous by now when I saw how many Police there were about.

We then went home and I got ready, I wore a pink silk blouse and a pink and black skirt. Mum and I then went to the Echo Offices where we had a tour of all the offices, including the newsroom were all the reporters were extremely busy.

We then walked around to the Promenade and had to walk up between all the people ? I felt a bit like a Queen then! We waited in the marquee and I had my photo taken for the paper.

We knew when the Queen had arrived because we could hear everyone clapping and cheering. We took our place outside the marquee and next to the guard of honour.

The Queen and Prince Phillip walked down the Promenade and into the marquee and by this time I was getting more and more excited and nervous as I knew that it was I was going to meet the Queen soon.

While the Queen was in the marquee her Lady in Waiting, her Personal Private Secretary, the Lord Lieutenant and the Mayor all spoke to me and helped me to relax.

The Queen came out of the marquee and the Editor of the Echo presented me to her. I handed her the posy and curtsied. The Queen asked me what I had had to do to win the competition and so I told her all about the letters all my family had written. She then talked about the jasmine flowers in the posy and that they were her favourite and she liked the smell, she then commented on how they matched my blouse. She then thanked me very much and carried on with her walkabout.

I really enjoyed my day meeting the Queen, it is something that I will never forget and will treasure forever.

Beth Langdon, Aged 9