ON September 9 Queen Elizabeth II will become the longest reigning British monarch. RUSSELL LEADBETTER looks back at her association with Glasgow and west central Scotland.

IN the years ahead, it would become a familiar sight on our TV screens - the Queen and her family, waving to the crowds massed outside Buckingham Palace.

In the summer of 1953, however, it was a different balcony altogether.

It was in Glasgow.

Princess Elizabeth had made her accession to the throne on June 2 that year in a pageant at Westminster Abbey that was broadcast around the world.

The young monarch later embarked on a series of visits around the UK.

On Thursday, June 25, it was the turn of Glasgow. And the city responded as never before.

She had previously made a number of visits here - but as a princess.

All of that changed when her father, King George VI, died in February 1952.

From now on, she would be Queen.

On a day of brilliant sunshine, the new Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh began their visit to the West of Scotland in Paisley, where an estimated 100,000 people greeted them.

People lined the streets and watched from balconies and open windows.

They cheered loudly and enthusiastically.

The royal couple, delighted with their reception, then made their way to Glasgow.

The seven mile-long drive was made at walking pace, such was the press of the crowds.

Business life in the city had all but ground to a halt. This was a day that no-one wanted to miss.

Finally, the royal entourage arrived in George Square.

The scenes were remarkable.

The square, decorated with flowers, flags and bunting, was packed, as were the surrounding streets.

The roadway dividing the Cenotaph from the City Chambers had been kept clear for the royals.

A guard of honour from the 2nd Battalion, The Scots Guards, made sure that the crowd could not get any further.

In addition there was a cordon some 75 police officers and six officers on horseback.

As the royal car arrived at the chambers - thousands of well-wishers flowed across the square to get a better look.

“There were many fainting cases in the square,” the Evening Times reported, “and these were brought to the front of the crowd and attended to by ambulance men.”

A group of children, under pressure from the people behind them, “cried hysterically as they fought to get in front of the solid rank of policemen,” the paper added.

“Some of the children crawled beneath the policemen’s wide-stretched legs as the officers, with linked arms, swayed to and fro.”

Senior police officers, seeing what was happening, immediately joined the cordon in order to strengthen it.

The Queen and the Duke stepped out of their car to inspect the guard of honour. Many in the crowd began to move even closer. Everyone wanted to see the new monarch.

Pandemonium reigned for a few seconds, before the Queen and the Duke disappeared into the chambers.

“We want the Queen,” bellowed the crowd. They were rewarded when she and her husband appeared on the balcony of the Satinwood Salon, and they waved.

The crowd cheered, and they kept on cheering until the couple made a second appearance.

Inside the chambers, the couple were greeted by councillors and their spouses. Council workers packed the stairways and leaned over balustrades to cheer the Queen.

After lunch in the Chambers’ Banqueting Hall, the Queen and the Duke were driven to a youth rally sat Hampden Park, where a huge crowd of 70,000 had been waiting for them.

Once again, Glaswegians lined the route - women in summer dresses, men in shirt-sleeves, kids in bathing costumes.

In the national stadium, the Queen was deafened by the Hampden Roar.

“The scene,” noted our sister paper, “was unsurpassed in colour and spectacle.”

The Queen and the Duke spent an hour at the rally before being driven around the track, and made their way for their final engagement in the west of Scotland - at Rutherglen.

After tea in the town hall, the Queen and the Duke signed the visitors’ book.

Their day was not quite over yet, however. The couple left for Rutherglen station to rejoin the royal train in order to return to Edinburgh, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

As she boarded the train, the Queen turned to the provost of Rutherglen and said, ‘Thank you for a lovely visit’.

That summer’s day was all of 62 years ago. It was a day that would live long in the city’s memory.