Twelve-year-old Libby Turner made a special return to Oxford’s Children’s Hospital today, six months after being told she was in remission from bone cancer.

Libby, a pupil at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, was chosen to give a posy of flowers to the Queen during the official opening of the £135m West Wing, which includes the children’s hospital.

Before the presentation, Libby, from Standlake, near Witney, said: “I feel nervous but excited to be meeting the Queen.”

Libby and her parents were among patients and staff greeting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.

Libby was introduced to the Queen with mum Rebecca Turner, 46, a matron in specialist surgery in the West Wing, and dad Mark, 49.

Mrs Turner said: “Libby has been in remission for six months, and for the past year I have been working here and virtually living here.

“The staff here are brilliant and the facilities are brilliant — the resources are exceptional.”

On Kamran’s Ward, the Queen met staff and young patients including Duckworth Amavih-Mensah, seven, from Milton Keynes.

His mother Mabel said: “He was diagnosed with leukaemia in January, so he has been having chemotherapy. He was very excited to meet the Queen and wanted to know where her crown was.”

The West Wing and the children’s hospital opened in January last year, but the official opening of the West Wing was saved for the Queen’s visit.

The £30m children’s hospital was funded with £15m from the NHS, with the remainder of funding raised by the community – aided by an Oxford Mail campaign.

Alice Gosling, director of fundraising for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, said: “It’s tremendously exciting to have the Queen visit and see what the community has helped to build.”

The Duke of Edinburgh visited integrated theatres in the West Wing, where he was shown the benefits of new operating theatre technology for adult surgery.

Earlier in the day, the Queen, wearing a matching burgundy hat and coat, and the Duke were at Oxford University’s Magdalen College.

Undergraduates, lecturers and visiting fellows assembled in St John’s Quad for the visit marking the college’s 550th anniversary.

The royal couple were driven into the quad shortly before 1pm, and were greeted by Prof David Clary, president of Magdalen College, and his wife Heather.

They were also greeted by Dr Ralph Walker, vice-president of the college, and Mark Blandford-Baker, the home bursar.

Mr Blandford-Baker said: “It’s a great honour for the Queen to visit to mark the 550th anniversary.

“She last visited here in 1948, when she was Princess Elizabeth, and on that day she visited lots of colleges and was awarded an honorary degree by the university.

“The Queen is having lunch with 120 students and staff who entered the ballot, which was very popular — about three quarters of the students entered it and so did a lot of the staff.”

Kizzie Fenner, 20, a third-year law student, said: “I love the Queen.

This is a very exciting visit.”

Earlier in the day there were cheering crowds in Banbury to see the Queen visit the town for the first time in almost half a century.

She was greeted by enthusiastic staff and volunteers at Leonard Cheshire Disability’s new Agnes Court home in Warwick Road.

As the charity’s patron, Her Majesty was given a tour of the new building before unveiling a commemorative plaque to mark its official opening.

She then took some time to speak with some of those gathered to witness the event.

Leonard Cheshire fundraising co-ordinator Maurice O’Connor said: “It was much better than we expected. She came and met those this organisation wishes to give greater independence to. We do not often get an opportunity to reward our volunteers but to do so in this way is absolutely priceless.”

Meanwhile, Prince Philip dropped in on motorsport firm Prodrive for a tour of its facilities before heading to meet the Queen at Banbury Town Hall.

A man in his early 30s was arrested for a public order offence after he allegedly ran at the Queen’s car in Banbury.

He remained in custody at Banbury police station tonight.

andrew.ffrench@oxfordmail.co.uk