A lucky passenger will sip champagne and tuck into a slap-up dinner while sitting in what was once the Queen Mother’s favourite seat when one of the world’s most luxurious trains comes to Sheffield and Doncaster next week.

But they will probably never know – because staff on the Northern Belle are sworn to secrecy about just where she sat in one of the seven ornately-decorated 1930s-style Pullman carriages.

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A spokesman said: “The carriage used to form part of the Royal Train and we are told that the Queen Mum always liked to stretch out in the same seat as she sipped her gin and tonics.

“We don’t usually advertise the fact though, otherwise everybody would want to sit there and give a little regal wave out of the window as we pass through a station!

“And anyway, we like to think that every seat in our hand-decorated carriages, with their tapestries, paintings and marquetry work, is fit for a Queen!.”

Passengers will have a choice of tucking into a slap-up seven-course lunch or taking a classic afternoon tea during the five-hour round trip on the Northern Belle next Friday, February 25.

The train will make several more trips from South Yorkshire this year, including a steam-hauled journey over the spectacular Settle-Carlisle line and a Christmas lunch journey.