More and more people gathered along the banks of the River Spree, and gazed expectantly towards Schloss Bellevue. The royal visitors from the United Kingdom had just set off from there with Federal President Joachim Gauck and his partner Daniela Schadt. In a few minutes their boat would be passing the crowds on the way to the Federal Chancellery.

School trip to see the Queen

The children of Class 6b from Leonhart-Fuchs School in the Bavarian town of Schwaben-Wemding were perfectly prepared for this moment. They held up a banner they had made themselves and sported their T-shirts printed "Class 6 b". The class has been preparing for the royal visit for several months in their English lessons, Magdalena told us, and now they had come to Berlin to see the Queen for real.

Next to the school group an elderly lady is trying to position herself to get a good view of the River Spree. She saw the young Queen and her family in 1959 on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, she tells us proudly. She was working in London as an au pair at the time – an experience she will not forget. Today she wanted to make the most of the opportunity to see the Queen once more, in Berlin this time.

Just then several boats come into view. All eyes turn to the largest, but then the royal hat is spotted. The Queen, dressed all in white, is sitting in a smaller open boat. Next to her sit Prince Philip, Federal President Joachim Gauck and Daniela Schadt. The people on the banks walk with the boat, accompanying it on its way. They wave, laugh and are happy to be here today.

A full programme

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will spend four days in Germany. On Wednesday morning Federal President Joachim Gauck welcomed them at Schloss Bellevue, before they met with Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Federal Chancellery. The Queen then laid a wreath at Germany’s central memorial for the victims of war and dictatorship. In the afternoon the royal couple visited Berlin’s Technical University where they attended the Queen’s Lecture. The Queen initiated the lectures during her first visit to Germany in 1965.

As well as Berlin, the Queen will be visiting Frankfurt am Main and the Bergen-Belsen memorial site. The concentration camp on this site was liberated by British troops shortly before the end of the Second World War.