The Queen visited Northern Ireland today where she attended a garden party at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Co Derry.
Amid blazing sunshine, the gathering, hosted by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, drew 2,000 people including the Northern Ireland First Minister, Ian Paisley and his wife Baroness Paisley.
The Queen, wearing a lemon coat and hat, unveiled a plaque to mark her return to the campus. For university staff present on her last visit during the 1977 Jubilee year, the contrasting security arrangements were remarkable.
Dr Tom Stark, a retired senior lecturer in economics who was just starting out on his academic career at the time, said: "The change since then has been astonishing. "Back then we weren't allowed to drive in that day, we had to leave our cars on the other side of Coleraine and get bussed in.
"Even the week before the Queen came there were security men on each end of every corridor in all buildings. "And then of course, there was the bomb planted in the daffodil gardens. It was discovered on the morning of the visit and I think it was the IRA.
"But there was no danger of the Queen cancelling her visit, she went ahead as normal." The royal visitors were greeted today by the Lord Lieutenant of Co Derry, Denis Desmond, for the garden party whose theme was the community and voluntary sector.
The band of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service played music throughout as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh chatted with guests. Father Kevin Mullan, a priest based in Omagh at the time of the Real IRA bomb atrocity in the town which killed 29 people, expressed his gratitude to the Queen for all she has done to strengthen relationships.
He said: "I thank her for her work in bringing healing between the two islands. She has been a pivotal figure in her own quiet way. "And I also told her that Prince Charles has done a lot for Omagh since the bombing."
Father Mullan was accompanied by Mary Carlin (79) his housekeeper, who told the Queen about the challenges of looking after a busy priest.
Elaine Grant (48) a ward sister at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry impressed the Queen with the choir she had become involved with at work.
Ms Grant said: "I told her it was unique to Northern Ireland and she said it was a great idea."
The officials and political representatives who attended the garden party included the Democratic Unionist MP for East Derry, Gregory Campbell, Nigel Hamilton, head of the Northern Ireland civil service and Margaret Ritchie, the SDLP minister for social development in the new power-sharing administration at Stormont. With such a broad cross section attending the event, Mr Hain insisted it showed how Northern Ireland was now able to look forward.
He said: "Everybody of different views and different cultures can also be included. "What has happened is that instead of a royal visit being a highly politicised event, it's now just seen as a much more normal event in which people can pay their respects. "They don't have to see any constitutional significance in that if they don't want to. That has allowed it to become part of a process of normalisation."