ONE of Princess Margaret's last visits to East Lancashire was when she came to Blackburn in April 1991 to open a £270,000 NSPCC Child Care Centre.

As with her previous visits the Princess was the centre of the attention. The excitement proved too much for one little girl who burst into tears as the royal footsteps headed towards her.

Two-year-old Carley Joseph buried herself in her granddad's shoulders when the big moment arrived and sobbed that she didn't want to hand the flowers over which she had brought for the Princess, who was obviously amused.

Princess Margaret went over to the little girl and collected the posy while curly-haired Carley stayed in the safe arms of her granddad Stuart Joseph, then the chairman of the East Lancashire Child Care Centre Support Group.

Her mother Nicola said Carley had been excited all week about her big moment.

The waiting crowd was delighted by the visit especially when the Princess, wearing an elegant royal blue woollen coat and matching dress, went over to speak to the crowd who had waited patiently all afternoon.

Gladys Kennedy, 91, was with a group of wheelchair-bound residents from Southlands Nursing Home, in Shear Bank Road, Blackburn, who had waited in the biting wind for several hours to catch a glimpse of the royal.

She told a Lancashire Evening Telegraph reporter at the time: "I'm really looking forward to it because I've never seen a member of the royal family before."

The visit even attracted two patriotic followers from Yorkshire.

Emily Loughlin, from Wakefield, and David Donovan, from Leeds, were both keen royalists and turn up to as many visits as possible.

Mrs Loughlin had a special basket of flowers to give to the Princess which she had picked from her garden that morning.

She said: "I hope she will take them back to the Queen Mother."

But simplicity of the day was for Angela Quarcoo who picked two daffodils and rushed over to Princess Margaret and thrust them into her hands.