The Queen officially opens Windsor & Royal Borough Museum

Her Majesty The Queen will visit Windsor on Friday 9 December to officially open the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum in the Guildhall.

The Queen - who as Princess Elizabeth opened the refurbished Grade I listed Guildhall in 1951 - will be shown a selection of displays including the latest exhibit, Bronze Age jewellery discovered in the Royal Borough and recently acquired by the museum.

Children from Year 4 at The Queen Anne Royal Free First School in Windsor will be on hand to demonstrate a typical class visit to the museum.

After unveiling a plaque to commemorate the event the Queen will be presented with a posy by one of the Queen Anne School pupils.

Guests who will be presented to the Queen include the Mayor, Cllr Asghar Majeed, Royal Borough chief executive Ian Trenholm, Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Sara Thornton and Windsor MP Adam Afriyie, together with Cllr David Burbage, leader of the council, cabinet lead members and Dr Brigitte Mitchell, chairman of the Friends of the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum.

Cllr Majeed said: "We are very honoured that Her Majesty The Queen is to officially open our museum. The event will be the latest highlight in the Guildhall's long and fascinating history."

The foundation stone of the Guildhall was laid on 5 September 1687 and the extension in which the museum is housed was completed in 1830. Markets were held there until 1901 when the ground floor was enclosed.

In September 2010 the Guildhall closed for refurbishment and reopened in March this year when the museum moved into the former Maidenhead Room. Since then the family-friendly museum, supported by the Friends of Windsor & Royal Borough Museum, has welcomed over 20,000 visitors.

The museum team and 45 volunteers ensure the doors remain open six days per week (Tuesday to Sunday). The collection comprises more than 6,300 objects including pre-historic tools, Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon artefacts, maps, textiles, books, paintings and prints, together with objects and ephemera from before Victorian times up to World War II, the 1950s and the present day.

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