Britain’s longest reigning monarch is believed to have bought a £37.60 first class train ticket to travel to her Sandringham estate for Christmas today.

Pictures show her Majesty, 93, arriving at King’s Lynn in Norfolk in miserable weather after taking the 10.45am First Capital Connect service from London King’s Cross.

She wore a pink coat and green and blue head scarf to make the annual journey that marks the beginning of her winter break.

A police search was conducted at King’s Lynn railway station in Norfolk this morning prior to the royal’s arrival, with sniffer dogs and officers doing a thorough check of the platform.

The Queen’s choice of transport is a little different from the luxury she is used to on the royal train, which comes with a sleeping car, bathroom and a thickly-carpeted saloon.

Due to the huge running costs, the royal train – which has as many as nine private carriages – is now only used on special occasions.

Her Majesty usually returns to her Norfolk home on a Thursday, a day after her annual pre-Christmas lunch with relatives who don’t join her at Sandringham for the festive season.

However, her trip was delayed by this year by the General Election, as she was needed in London to set out the new Conservative government’s agenda yesterday.

Her speech was named ‘most radical in a generation’ by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Addressing both Houses of Parliament, the Queen said the Government would also embark on an ‘ambitious programme of domestic reform that delivers on the people’s priorities’.