Knitter Margaret Seaman, 93, creates giant Buckingham Palace replica

The tribute to Buckingham Palace has taken eight months to knit

A nonagenarian knitter has unveiled her latest - and she says last - woollen wonder at a craft exhibition.

Margaret Seaman, 93, of Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, has created an 8ft (2.4m) x 5ft (1.5m) knitted replica of Buckingham Palace.

The great-great-grandmother said it would be a fitting final masterpiece to top her giant Sandringham House model.

Mrs Seaman, who has raised £100,000 thanks to her knitting needles, said it had been "so uplifting".

The intricate replica of the royal palace has taken eight months' work so far and has gone on display at the Norfolk Makers' Festival at The Forum, Norwich.

Streams of visitors have been in to admire Mrs Seaman's handiwork - completed in between two eye operations - and to talk to her about her feat.

The Buckingham Palace replica will be on display in Norwich until 19 March

"I'm very happy to see their response," said the great-grandmother of 13.

"It's hard work talking to people - I'm losing my voice, but it's just so rewarding.

"Some people come up, stand with their mouths open and then they start to cry."

Mrs Seaman says she does not know how many balls of wool she has used to create Buckingham Palace

Mrs Seaman's efforts also attracted the attention of the royal residences' longest-serving inhabitant, the late Queen.

The knitter was setting up her Sandringham House replica - which took her two years to make - at the actual house itself in 2021 when the Queen popped by for a chat.

"It's the best thing ever to have happened to me," said Mrs Seaman.

"It was most unexpected - somebody just walked in, stood next to me and I didn't know it was the Queen."

Daughter Tricia Wilson, 74, said her mother's stitched homages - which started when she recreated - had taken them on a "journey".

"I am so proud of her - she's got so much talent and charisma," said Ms Wilson.

Mrs Seaman's daughter, Tricia Wilson, (pictured left) says her mother's passion had taken them on a "journey"

"It was like when she met the Queen, she chatted to her so easily, but she shook afterwards.

"She doesn't drink - we had to get her some sponge cake so we could give her some sugar for the shock."

Buckingham Palace follows on from tributes to Sandringham House, Great Yarmouth's Golden Mile and 'Knittingale' Hospital

Mrs Seaman first started making knitted models - as part of a fundraising knitting group for the Louise Hamilton Centre in Great Yarmouth - following her husband's death.

Her latest project will raise funds for a new children's hospice at Addenbrooke's Hospital, with her other knitted landmarks for Norfolk's NHS hospitals and local causes.

In December Mrs Seaman was presented with a "precious" British Empire Medal for her charity work - and said she believed she had raised about £100,000 through the knitting group and individual projects.

Mrs Seaman, shown at her beach hut in Great Yarmouth, sells the knitted items she makes for charity

While her Sandringham Estate can still be seen at Grayson Perry's Art Club Exhibition at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham, Mrs Seaman said she felt the time had come to hang up her knitting needles and wanted to end on a high.

"My eyesight's not so good - after Sandringham House people kept asking me what next and the only thing I could think of was Buckingham Palace," she said.