BLUE Peter presenters past and present today met the Queen to celebrate the landmark programme's 50th anniversary.
Brass PendantThe monarch hosted a tea party for the show's stars, four special young viewers and staff from the long-running children's series at Buckingham Palace.
The programme has been watched in British homes for generations and has become an institution popular with adults and youngsters alike.
led flexible stripsBlue Peter was the brainchild of its first producer John Hunter Blair and began on October 16, 1958 as a seven-week experiment, slotted in between Watch With Mother and the magazine show Studio E.
During the tea party the Queen presented four Blue Peter viewers with Blue Peter gold badges to mark the special day.
