As the nation mourns the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96, the Cambrian News looks back on the impact the UK’s longest-reigning monarch had on Wales over her 70-year reign.

The young Princess Elizabeth travelled to Mountain Ash which played host to the Welsh National Eisteddfod. The future monarch was initiated into the Gorsedd of Bards and was given the title ‘Elizabeth of Windsor’.

The then Princess Elizabeth visited the Bath and West and Southern Countries Show in Cardiff and was also bestowed with the Freedom of the City.

Five weeks after her coronation in June, Elizabeth made her first official visit to Wales as Queen. The tour began in Newport and included visits toa Cardiff, Pontypridd, Caernarfon, Rhyl, Wrexham and Llangollen.

Thousands lined the streets of Aberystwyth, above, to catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth on her first visit to the town on 8 August since her coronation.

She and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a ceremony at the National Library. They were accompanied by a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne, and the Royal Tour included stops in Brecon, the Rhondda, Llandovery, St Davids, Milford Haven and Pembroke.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the National Eisteddfod during August in Cardiff, where the duke was initiated Honorary Ovate of the Gorsedd of Bards as ‘Philip Meirionnydd’.

In September 1966, the Queen officially opened the Severn Bridge connecting Wales and England across the River Severn.

On 21 October a colliery spoil tip collapsed and engulfed the village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Aberfan eight days later to pay their respects and offer comfort to the bereaved.

It was later reported that the Queen felt she had left it too late after the tragedy to visit Aberfan, deeming it her greatest regret.

The Queen opened the Royal Mint’s headquarters in Llantrisant in December and switched on coining presses to prepare for the switch to decimalisation in 1971.

The Queen’s eldest son, Charles, was formally invested as the Prince of Wales on 1 July at a ceremony at Caernarfon Castle, attended by 4,000 guests inside the castle walls and thousands more who waited outside.

The Queen visited Cardiff to officially open the University Hospital of Wales.

The Queen visited Llandudno during her Silver Jubilee tour of Wales.

The Queen made a whistlestop tour of Montgomeryshire visiting Machynlleth, Llanidloes, Newtown, Montgomery, Berriew and Welshpool.

Queen Elizabeth returned to Welshpool on 21 April, a visit which coincided with her 63rd birthday.

Little Eleri Williams presented flowers to Queen Elizabeth in Aberystwyth in 1996 as the monarch opened a cadet building, as pictured below.

“I was lucky enough to present her with some flowers,” Eleri told the Cambrian News recently. “She was so lovely and my Nan still has this photo of us framed on her living room wall.”

The Queen opened the first National Assembly for Wales, declaring it “a new and significant direction in the way Wales is governed… a moment of renewal, true to the spirit of Wales”.

Elizabeth II visited Dolau, near Builth Wells, where 10,000 people turned out to greet her on her Wales Golden Jubilee visit.

On 1 March, — St David’s Day — the Queen officially opened the newly built Senedd building on Cardiff Bay.

The Queen returned to Aberfan as part of her jubilee celebrations. She opened Ynysowen Community Primary School.

The Queen’s last visit to Wales came in October, opening the sixth term in the Welsh Parliament. The Queen told the Senedd it was a “source of pleasure” that her family “have had homes in Wales and experienced its very special sense of community”.