SHE'S always been assured of a warm welcome in Glasgow and, during the Queen's first visit to the city as monarch in 1953, people were fainting in George Square, such was the crush.

Screaming children tried to squeeze between policemen's legs and shouts of "We Want the Queen" rang out.

The roadway dividing the Cenotaph from the City Chambers had been kept clear for the royals, with aguard of honour from the 2nd Battalion, The Scots Guards, and a cordon of 75 police officers, six on horseback.

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

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.

"Some of the children crawled beneath the policemen's widestretched legs as the officers, with linked arms, swayed to and fro."

After lunch in the Chambers' Banqueting Hall, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were driven to a youth rally at Hampden Park, where a crowd of 70,000 was waiting to deafen them with the Hampden roar.

She was later heard to say, as she left to rejoin the royal train to return to Edinburgh: "Thank you for a lovely visit".

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

Again, a huge crowd had gathered - some 30,000 shipyard workers and their guests. Their cheers were so loud she had to repeat her 'God speed' message after naming the vessel.

The QE2 slid forward by an inch, then stopped. "Gie' us a shove!" someone shouted. Thankfully, the liner began to move down towards the water. More loud cheers. It had been another perfect launch.

Afterwards, the monarch went out of her way to praise the people who had been responsible for the QE2.

She said: "The people who really deserve a toast today are the designers and builders of John Brown's latest great ship for the Cunard fleet."

The visit was not her first in the 1960s and followed a number of others.

On June 30, 1961, she and the Duke visited several houses in the Gorbals' Sandyfaulds Street and were shown a model of new high-rise flats that were being built.

On July 3, 1963, she officially opened the Clyde Tunnel, and three years later, on June 27, 1966, it was Glasgow Airport's turn.

There was a major royal visit on May 22, 1969, when the royal couple were cheered by bystanders as they were driven from Queen Street station to perform the official opening of Glasgow Fruit Market.

In the 1980s, thousands again crowded into George Square, waiting for the Queen to emerge from the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce offices, where she mingled with nearly 1,500 guests at a champagne reception.

On that same visit, the Queen visited the Evening Times' then offices in Albion Street, to help mark the bicentenary of our sister paper, The Glasgow Herald - the oldest national newspaper in the English-speaking world.

In October that year, the Queen returned to Glasgow for another high-profile visit - this time to open the Burrell Collection.

The monarch told the assembled guests that she was "delighted" to have the chance of an early sight of the magnificent bequest left by Sir William Burrell, one of the great collectors of modern times.

In July 1996, the Queen made the latest in her long line of visits to Scotland's largest city when she opened the Gallery of Modern Art in Queen Street.

Three years later, in July 1999, she returned to Glasgow to honour the city's position as 1999 UK City of Architecture and Design.

She opened The Lighthouse, which had once been part of the former offices of The Herald.

Later, the Queen visited the Buchanan Galleries, the £240m shopping centre which had opened a few months earlier.

On her tour she went into the Thorntons Chocolate Shop, where she met manager Kirsty Wandrum and was presented with a chocolate lace casket.

In 2006, she returned to officially open the new look Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, following a £35m refurbishment.

Hundreds of people greeted the monarch as she arrived.

She said: "I know the renewal of this famous and much cherished landmark has been a long held aspiration.

"Today, we have seen something of the transformation which the imagination, support and labours of so many have brought about, amid a wider renaissance taking hold in the city."

Her latest visit was in July this year, when, 62 years after she was crowned Queen, she arrived to open two ultra-modern hospitals, one of which has been named in her honour.

Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, she visited the £842 million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children.