Crowds greet Queen at West Newton church service

It was all smiles for the Queen yesterday as her new year break at Sandringham draws to a close.

Crowds of wellwishers gathered outside the St Peter and St Paul Church in West Newton where the 93-year-old monarch attended a service on Sunday morning.

And many of them handed flowers to the Queen as she left the service, which featured readings and a play telling the Bible story of the tax collector Zachaeus, performed by members of the local Sunday school.

Nineteen children later received prizes from the Queen at the village hall, where they also recited a poem.

The Queen traditionally attends the West Newton church on the final Sunday before returning to London after marking Accession Day, the anniversary of the death of her father, King George VI, on Thursday.

Today, the Queen is visiting RAF Marham to meet servicemen and women and see some of the station’s new F35 fighter planes, while she is also due to open a new pumping station at Wolferton on Wednesday.

And she has also been invited to visit Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations this year.

The invitation, which officials say has yet to receive a response, has been revealed in papers published ahead of a meeting of the QEH’s board tomorrow morning.