The Queen thanked soldiers from the Black Country for putting their lives at risk on the frontline in Afghanistan during a visit to Staffordshire.

She spent most of yesterday in the county, arriving in Lichfield to present medals to 15 members of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, before attending a thanksgiving service at the cathedral following their recent return from a five-month tour of duty.

Sergeant  Andy Morris, of  Quarry Bank, Dudley, deemed it a particular honour for the part-time soldiers.

“I was in the front row so I got to shake her hand which was great,” the 39-year-old said afterwards. “As a TA soldier it was very special as the Queen hardly ever comes to a TA ceremony.”

His wife Bronya, and their children Jack, aged nine, and seven-year-old daughter Issy were among 600 family members and colleagues invited to the medal presentation.

Later, the Queen, who is Colonel-in-Chief of the Territorial Army regiment which has bases in Dudley and Telford, met some of the soldiers and their wives and partners at a private reception on the lawn of Lichfield Cathedral School.

Among them were Lance Corporal Chris Smith, aged 27, and his fiancee Kirsty Perry, of Mallard Drive, Oldbury, who are getting married in three weeks at All Saints Church in West Bromwich.

Kirsty, 25, said: “She asked about our wedding plans. It was great to see her close-up. She looks fantastic, I hope I look half as good at her age.”

After lunch the Queen moved on to the National Memorial Aboretum in Alrewas where she attended a Service of Commemoration paying tribute to the 112 UK soldiers killed on duty in 2010.