Emmerdale's post office explosion went 'very wrong' when Queen Elizabeth visited the set.
In 2002, the monarch came to the Leeds based set to see filming of the ITV soap and celebrate its popularity with the UK public. Her visit to the set formed part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Whilst the Queen had much to celebrate, the characters of Emmerdale not so much, as their beloved post office exploded in some very dramatic scenes. In fact, the Queen was there for the big day - and nearly found herself injured by a piece of flying debris.
Soap expert Sharon Marshall revealed on This Morning today: "She went to see the actual scene they were filming of the post office being blown up. A piece of wood apparently blew over and came a lot closer than everyone was expecting."
They then showed a photo of the Queen standing next to actress Elizabeth Estensen, who played Diane Sugden.
"That’s why Elizabeth Estensen looks a little worried. The Queen doesn't flinch. Doesn't move at all. She just continued with the tour," Sharon added of what happened during the set visit.
Host Phillip Schofield then quizzed: "So it just flew past?" to which Sharon replied: "Wood apparently went over the street and went quite near the Queen and she didn't flinch an inch and was charming."
Marlon Dingle star Mark Charnock had previously said the Queen was as "cool as a cucumber" when the scenes were filmed.
"She was cool as a cucumber when the explosion went off. The rest of us jumped out of our skins," he recalled of the day the monarch visited the set, whilst Paula Tilbrook, who played Betty Eggleton, added afterwards: "We know the Queen Mother used to watch but we didn’t want to ask the Queen in case she didn’t. It might have been a little embarrassing."
The late Queen Mother was said to be a huge fan of the soap, but it was not known whether the monarch herself watched it.
During her visit, she met and spoke with multiple cast members, who all appeared in their character's costumes. It included a number of popular cast as well as then Emmerdale producer Tim Fee. The Queen signed the visitors book before leaving.
*Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour long episode on Thursdays.
