Children waving flags lined the piazza to welcome the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as they took a tour of Penryn's university campus on the hottest day of the year so far.

Escorted by professor Alan Livingston, principal of University College Falmouth (UCF), and professor Steve Smith, vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter Cornwall Campus, the Queen and Prince Philip met a range of dignitaries at the Tremough campus last Thursday, including the mayor of Penryn Gill Grant and her escort for the day, the mayor of Falmouth Roger Bonney, along with the chairman of Kerrier district council Marilyn Ferris.

Mrs Grant said afterwards: "It's the pinnacle of everything I've done. It's recognition for the university. I'm so proud of Penryn. I've never been presented before and it's absolutely super."

She added that the Queen said it was a pleasure to be in Penryn while Prince Philip admired her chain.

The Queen was presented with a basket of pink roses, blue irises and freesias by six-year-old Eve Miller whose father John is head of design at UCF and four-year-old Miriam Leyshon, whose father Dr Michael Leyshon and mother, Dr Catherine Brace, both lecture in geography at the University of Exeter.

Miriam said afterwards: "She said thank you for the flowers. She said, Oh there are some lovely roses'."

Ten-year-old Alice Nicholson and her sister Sophie, six, both pupils at Truro High School, had also come to give the Queen flowers, presenting her with bunches of white roses, lilies and daisies as she walked past.

The royal couple enjoyed a lunch provided by the Royal Duchy Hotel, consisting of chilled vichyssoise soup, caviar and sour cream, followed by corn fed chicken breast with celeriac remoulade sauce and red chicory with a Caesar dressing and Parmesan crackling. The meal was finished off with summer pudding, clotted cream with raspberry tuille pastry, before coffee and Roskilly's Farm organic fudge.

After lunch they visited the design centre and the learning resource centre where they met with students of UCF, the University of Exeter and Camborne School of Mines, and greeted the spectators that had assembled on the campus piazza. Included in the crowd were young pupils from the Bouncers Nursery in Killigrew Street, Falmouth, the Trevone nursery at Mabe and the university college's own nursery, Woodlane day nursery, from which youngsters had made a banner especially for the occasion.

Wearing a jade-green dress and matching wrap-over coat and hat, with contrasting black shoes and bag and white gloves, the Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, paused to chat to staff and students from the university college before unveiling a plaque commemorating their visit.

The couple received gifts of a pair of bone china contoured cups made by Tavs Jorgensen, a Research Fellow at UCF from Prof Livingston and a framed picture commemorating the University of Exeter's golden jubilee.

To view more pictures of the Queen's visit to Falmouth click onto the link below and search for Queen.