Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to Broadcasting House in London, 20 April 2006, on the day before her 80th birthday.
To mark Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday, we've pulled together a selection of pictures from the BBC Picture Library that document the visits she has made to the BBC over a near 80 year period.
This collection is by no means exhaustive - they're a selection of personal favourites, including visits to Alexandra Palace, Lime Grove, Television Centre, BBC North and Broadcasting House in London.
A funny thing happens when you take some time looking at pictures of instantly recognisable faces - ones you rarely stop to take stock of because they're so familiar. When you do stop and peer, you see something touching.
Often with these pictures, it's the expressions on other people's faces that give a sense of how staff and contributors felt the day Her Majesty visited. Sometimes what you see is more powerful than words can describe. The process can be really absorbing and take up a good deal more time than you'd originally estimated the task would take.
There's also something unusual about seeing a broadcasting organisation that normally seeks to reflect what others are experiencing in their day-to-day lives, turn the cameras on themselves. What that often reveals is excitement and pride on the faces of those who get their to shake the hand of the visitor.
Something rather magical transpires. Aside from the subject in the frame, it is the spontaneous energy amongst staff which links the pictures below - as evident in the 1950s as it was in 2014 event.
Royal visits see staff coming together in an unusual way too. Colleagues break away from their daily schedule, their desks and their usual working environment to catch a glimpse of a royal visitor. And when that happens, people you wouldn't normally see in your day-to-day work sidle up beside you - it has an almost democratising effect. Unexpected conversations begin; smiles are exchanged.
In these moments, colleagues, contemporaries and associates unwittingly feed off one another's energy.
Where possible we've include the full scale image, uncropped, from our picture library. In most of the pictures we've included the description used in the picture library as it was applied when the picture was filed in the library.
HRH Princess Elizabeth stands next to her sister HRH Princess Margaret, accompanied by their parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in the Control Room at Broadcasting House in March 1939.
Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh at the BBC in Alexandra Palace. With them watching a production of Hulbert Follies in the studio on 23 July 1948 are Sir William Haylet (Director-General of the BBC), Mr Norman Collins (Controller, BBC Television Service) and Lady Reading (BBC Board of Governors)
The Queen is introduced to composer, arranger and conductor Eric Robinson during a royal visit to BBC Lime Grove in 1953.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh paid an informal visit to Lime Grove, where they saw the televising of a drama production.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh also visited Broadcasting House in London in 1953. This picture shows their cars arriving at reception. Note the space to the right of the original building, nowadays the site of New Broadcasting House.
Sir Ian Jacob, Director General, the Queen and Sir Alexander Cadogan walk through Broadcasting House reception for a special performance by leading artists from radio.
The Queen visited the newly built BBC Television Centre in White City in 1961.
During her visit the Queen toured the Design Department - standing on the right in this picture is Mr Richard Levin OBE, Head of Television Design. The visit marked the 25th birthday of the BBC Television Service.
The Queen also met production staff in Studio 3 during her visit.
The Queen returned to Broadcasting House in 2006, re-opening the then refurbished building, and visiting the updated radio studios.
The Queen visited BBC North at Media City in March 2012. In this picture former Chairman of the BBC Chris Patten (far left) stands next to then Director-General Mark Thompson.
Staff and local people congregated to welcome the Queen to Media City UK.
The Queen returned to the BBC in London in 2014 to open New Broadcasting House. During her visit she received a toured of the newsroom.
Pictured meeting the Queen in New Broadcasting House newsroom are Director-General Tony Hall (left), Mary Hockaday, Sophie Raworth, Huw Edwards and Carol Kirkwood.
Crowds congregated outside New Broadcasting House to see the Queen before she left at the end of her visit.
- Watch The Queen at 90 - A Family Tribute on Thursday 21 April 2016 at 9.00pm on BBC One.
- Kirsty Young presents live coverage of Her Majesty the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations from Royal Windsor from 11.00am on BBC One.
