Queen meets Yoko Ono at Museum of Liverpool official opening

Yoko Ono said it was "always nice" to meet the Queen

The Queen has met Yoko Ono during the official opening of the Museum of Liverpool.

The Queen arrived in the city by train with the Duke of Edinburgh to tour the £72m museum.

The royal couple spent 50 minutes visiting galleries in the waterfront building. The Queen then unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion.

John Lennon's widow, who had flown in from New York City for the visit, praised the Queen's appearance.

Ms Ono said: "That particular colour (burgundy) - it made her look so young, so elegant.

"She is always elegant. It's always nice to meet her."

The Queen was shown around the museum by Liverpool television producer and screenwriter Phil Redmond, who is its chairman.

"She was really interested and got engaged in a lot of things as we walked around," he said.

"I had forgotten to invite her to sign the guest book and she told me: 'You are supposed to get me to sign the book'."

'Fantastic opportunity'

Seven year-old Arron Wilson, a pupil from one of the schools which worked on creating the museum's Little Liverpool gallery, presented the Queen with a posy.

His head teacher Elaine Rees said: "It was a fantastic opportunity for our school to come here today and meet the Queen.

"We got to say hello and we also spoke to Prince Philip, who was really interested in the children and asked them if they had missed maths.

"We have really enjoyed it."

Afterwards, the Queen and the duke travelled to the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton, Wirral, for lunch.

Exhibits in the Museum of Liverpool's new galleries include a carriage from Liverpool's Overhead Railway and a 19th Century steam locomotive called Lion used on the original Liverpool to Manchester railway.

Over half a million people have visited the Museum of Liverpool since it opened on 19 July.

It is said to be the world's first national museum devoted to the history of a regional city.