'Coronation Street' stars weren't told they were meeting Queen Elizabeth until they turned up at the set earlier this month,
Daniel Brocklebank
The 95-year-old monarch visited the ITV soap's studios on July 8th, but Daniel Brocklebank - who portrays Billy Mayhew in the show - has revealed that while the cast were informed there was going to be a royal visit, they didn't know it was the queen until that morning.
He said: "She visited the cobbles and also the Rovers Return. We were all lined up and very eager.
"We'd been told there was a royal visit, but we didn't know it was Her Majesty herself until we were all there."
Daniel admitted he was almost speechless when he came face-to-face with the monarch, and he was pleased he managed to avoid blurting out any expletives.
He said: "For the first time in my life I was tongue-tied.
"It was hard not to swear but I managed it."
The 41-year-old actor revealed 'Corrie' bosses told the cast to wear "smart casual" attire for the royal meeting - and it was just as well for Daniel because he isn't sure if his suits still fit after some lockdown weight gain.
Speaking to Metro newspaper, he added: "The brief was smart casual, so I wore jeans, a T-shirt and blazer.
"To be perfectly honest, with the lockdown weight gain, I don't think I could fit into any of my bloody suits anyway."
It was Elizabeth's her first appearance at a 'Coronation Street' set for 39 years when she visited the studios at Salford's MediaCityUK earlier this month.
She looked delighted to meet 'Corrie' quartet William Roache - who plays Ken Barlow, the soap's longest-serving character - Barbara Knox (Rita Tanner), Sue Nicholls (Audrey Roberts) and Helen Worth (Gail Platt) outside the Rovers Return.
During her cobbles visit - to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary - she learned how the soap adapted its filming process amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The queen last visited Weatherfield in 1982 - at the old set at Manchester's Granada Studios - alongside her late husband Prince Philip, who died aged 99 in April.
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