TODAY the Queen makes history by becoming the longest reigning British monarch.

Her Majesty breaks the record held for more than 100 years by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, whose reign lasted 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes - that’s 63 years and seven months. 

While the nation celebrates the Queen's remarkable milestone, we look back at some of the occasions in which Elizabeth II has visited North and Mid Wales, as well as Chester.

During the past 63 years, come rain or shine, the Queen has made countless visits to the region, attending important events and meeting thousands of people.

One of her earliest visits came in 1953, a little over a month after her Coronation, as she wowed the crowds of Rhyl and Wrexham before arriving at the Eisteddfod in Llangollen.

Enjoying a taste of Welsh culture, the Queen returned as a very special guest at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1992, opening the festival's new 'home', the Royal International Pavilion.

During another early visit, in the summer of 1957, the young Queen and Prince Philip were in Chester for a number of important duties, including opening the city's County Hall.

She has been back to Chester several times, most recently in 2012 when she was at Chester Zoo to open their Diamond Jubilee Quarter.

More than 4,000 people were at Caernarfon Castle in July 1969 for the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.

A world-wide audience of 500 million people - including 19 million in Britain - watched the event.

There were 4,000 guests in the castle and 90,000 on the streets of Caernarfon.

In 1972, the Queen was in Mold to open Theatr Clwyd and returned to the town five years later to mark the silver jubilee.

The Queen held several engagements in North Wales in 1984, making stops at St Asaph, Colwyn Bay and Flint, while also visiting Ruthin School which was celebrating its 700th anniversary.

In 1998, the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, opened Wrexham's Waterworld swimming baths along with Flintshire Bridge on the Dee estuary at Connah's Quay.

Five years later, the Royal couple received a huge welcome again in Wrexham and Flintshire, arriving at Flint railway station by Royal train. The Queen also opened the £8m Centre of Engineering Excellence at Deeside College.

In 2010, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were on a two-day visit to Wales where they visited the Venue Cymru Arena in Llandudno, and also ventured south to greet people in Welshpool, where she unveiled a special plaque at the town's livestock market.

A year later, she was in Bangor and Anglesey, where she was given a tour of RAF Valley by her grandson, Prince William.