The Queen saw the best of what Swindon had to offer when she visited the town’s portrait tent at the Diamond Jubilee fair in Salisbury yesterday.

Glorious sunshine greeted the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as they alighted from their Rolls-Royce outside the cathedral.

A medieval fair had been set up with jousting tents representing all the county’s towns and some of its villages.

The Queen and the Duke visited some of those fenced off in a royal enclosure, among which was Swindon’s contribution.

In the Swindon portrait tent, visitors were entertained by a digital installation using photography and film to create a celebration of the people and places of Swindon.

The Queen was fascinated by the images and thanked the Mayor of Swindon Ray Ballman for her hospitality.

The Queen also visited the Pewsey community area tent where she saw a painting of scenes from the history of the village, completed only the day before by artist June Pearson, from East Grafton.

She was greeted by Wiltshire councillor Jerry Kunkler who said: “I apologised that was nothing about horses in the tent, but she was interested in the time line of events in Pewsey.”

Meanwhile, the Duke was in the tent of the Marlborough community area, where he chatted with members of the Kennet Valley Driving Club, which caters for disabled people who want to learn to drive a horse and carriage. He also met Ros Martin, from the Merchant’s House museum, in Marlborough, who was dressed as Mrs Bayly, the wife of the “merchant”.

She said: “I was introduced to him as Mrs Bayly, who had nine children. He said: ‘Really?, I thought that kind of thing was out of fashion these days’.”

The tent for Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade community area was not in the royal enclosure, but there was plenty to reflect the area’s historic background.

Coun Alison Bucknell, who was dressed in a tabard bearing the legend ‘A Post Card From Lyneham’, said: “We don’t mind we’re not being visited by royalty.

“We are just pleased to show off what a wonderful area we come from.”