Hackney has been visited by the Queen several times during her lifetime but it was a visit just over the border into Tower Hamlets she may remember most fondly.

It was in 1944 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children, in Hackney Road, that she made her first public address as a working royal.

The then Princess Elizabeth had just become president of the infirmary which was named after her mother.

In 1944, as the Second World War was still being fought, the then 18-year-old princess was still eight years away from taking the crown but was a fully fledged serving royal.

In black and white footage available from British Pathe, she can be heard telling those gathered: “I need not say how proud I am to be associated with the hospital in this way.

“I feel I have long had very close ties with it. It bears my mother’s name and my father… was himself president for many years.”

The young princess appeared slightly nervous and gave the address while looking at her notes but the speech was conducted confidently and greeted with warm applause.

She continued: “In my first act as president, I would like to assure you my own interest and my own service will always be given most wholeheartedly to what we all know to be a great cause.”

The hospital was ultimately closed in 2014 and has since been demolished.

For her SIlver Jubilee in 1977, she made a visit to Hackney and came back in 1990 to unveil a plaque to mark the five millionth house built under the national house building scheme on the Kingshold estate. On this trip she met the resident of the house, Anne-Marie Cox, and presented her with a framed certificate. The Queen toured homes and spoke to some in the crowds who lined the streets.

Thanks in part to Hackney Council funding, 30 jubilee lunches are being held around the borough from June 2-5. There will also be an event in Springfield Park.