Watch Sunderland greet William and Kate in city centre

The Duchess of Cambridge outside The Fire Station.

Crowds had started to gather from before 10am with the number swelling to hundreds by the time they arrived to officially open The Fire Station arts hub at around 12.15pm.

The onlookers included diehard Royal followers, people who did not know they were coming and even a distant relative by marriage.

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Retired shop assistant Mary Gorman, 84, of Chapel Garth, Sunderland, is the great aunt of Autumn Phillips, the wife of Peter Phillips, who is William's cousin.

She even had the opportunity to mention the link to William and to tell him that she had attended the Phillips's 2008 wedding as a guest.

Mrs Gorman, whose employers included Sunderland's former Binns and Joplings stores, said: "He looked surprised and said he was going to text them tonight to tell them."

Royal enthusiasts Julie Cain, left, and Maria Scott.

Ben Robinson, 20, of Thorney Close, Sunderland, only stumbled across the visit by chance while attempting to hand in a CV to The Fire Station for a job.

Mr Robinson, an NVQ cookery student at Sunderland College, said: "I did not know what was happening when I first saw the crowds.

"I'm a little bit of a Royal fan and struck lucky because the Duchess shook my hand. They seemed a friendly enough couple."

Watch the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge inside The Fire Station

Ardent Royal watcher Maria Scott, 46, of Rowlands Gill, near Gateshead, had already seen the couple on countless occasions in the past.

The housewife said: "I've been a Royal fan since the days of Diana and I told William it's wonderful that there is finally going to be a statue of his mother at Kensington Palace.

"I've been to his wedding and stood outside hospital in London waiting for his children to be born. But today is the first chance I've had to speak to him and it is such a thrill."

Alongside Miss Scott and also draped in a Union flag was friend and fellow Royal enthusiast Julie Cain, 55, from Byker, Newcastle.

Newcastle United fan Miss Cain, also a housewife, said she had been brought up to respect the Royal Family as a child and jokingly added: "It's the best day I've ever enjoyed in Sunderland."

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How the Royal visit to Sunderland unfolded: Follow our blog here.