'Guid oan ye, missus': Glaswegians remember the Queen's visits to city

Whether she was addressing celebrities - such as those who met her at the 1977 Royal Variety Show in the King’s Theatre - or ordinary Glaswegians, the Queen loved a natter.

Many of our readers have shared the conversations they had with her over the decades.

“I met the Queen when she came to open East Kilbride Shopping Centre in 1990,” says Jean Chalmers.

“She was lovely, spoke to lots of people in the crowd and took ages getting round everyone. She paused beside us and asked us if we liked shopping. We were all so star-struck, we could hardly speak but I remember saying I liked all the fashion shops even though I was a granny, and she laughed.

"I remember all the shop staff had dressed up for the day - there was a great atmosphere.”

READ MORE: Pictures tell the story of Queen's incredible visits to Glasgow over the decades

On Tuesday, May 17, 1977, Her Majesty came to Glasgow as part of her Silver Jubilee tour.

Around 200,000 people turned out to greet her as she took in a 21-gun salute across the Broomielaw, a speech by the Church of Scotland Moderator at Glasgow Cathedral, a challenge match at Hampden between a Glasgow Select and an English Select (the Scots won) and, in the evening, the aforementioned Royal Variety Jubilee Show.

But it was in Govan where she had the chance to speak to some of the city’s residents, and she apologised to Mrs Mary Currie, who had invited her in for a cuppa. Mrs Currie had bought new bone china especially for the occasion.

“The Queen said she would have loved a cup of tea but she didn’t have the time,” Mrs Currie told our newspaper.

“They were very nice and warm people.”

And at George Square, a shout came from a woman standing amongst the wellwishers.

“Guid oan ye, missus!” she cried, to the approval of the crowd.

Whether Her Majesty heard or not, she looked delighted by the welcome.

Back in 1967, the Queen was at Clydebank to christen the new luxury Cunard liner in her own name - the Queen Elizabeth II.

Around 30,000 shipyard workers and their guests had gathered to watch and their cheers were so loud she had to repeat her ‘God speed’ message after naming the vessel.

As the QE2 slid forward, it stopped. "Gie’ us a shove!" someone shouted, as the Queen laughed. Thankfully, it started to move and launched perfectly into the water.

Her Majesty The Queen at the QEUH, 2015 Pic: Colin Mearns (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest)

In 2015, the Queen came to Glasgow to open the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

As she left, she was presented with a posy by one-year-old Emily Faulkner, whose mum worked as a smoking cessation specialist at the hospital.

She said: “It was lovely to meet the Queen and Prince Philip. The Queen just said Emily was lovely and Prince Philip was asking her name. I think it’s wonderful for them to come and visit.”

Regular Glasgow Times reader Dorothy Connor never met the Queen, but she does have a very special memory of her.

“In 2007, when my mum was 90 (and it was also the year of the Queen and Prince Philip's diamond wedding anniversary), my mum, who had dementia, was convinced that she was 100 and would get a telegram from the Queen,” explains Dorothy.

“There was nothing I could do to persuade her otherwise.

“So I sent the Queen a copy of my book, Home Town Tales, which is all about Rutherglen, the oldest Royal Burgh in Scotland where the Queen and Prince Philip had visited in 1953 shortly after the coronation. I told her my mum was bedridden and would be celebrating her 90th birthday.”

Jack and Eileen Connor (Image: Dorothy Connor)

Dorothy smiles: “The postman was well impressed when I received a letter with a Buckingham Palace postmark from the Queen thanking me for my book which she found ‘most interesting’, and wishing my mum a happy 90th birthday and good wishes for an improvement in her health.

“Wasn't that lovely? It made my mum’s day, and she kept that letter under her pillow for a long time.”