As the Queen opened the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras, there was a swelling of national pride which has not often been seen in these parts since the Victorian heyday of the station - and even the French joined in.

The station - lovingly restored, and illuminated during the lavish opening ceremony by a dramatic light show that made it, for one night only, the Pink Link - was heaped with praise by everyone from Katherine Jenkins, who sang at the event, to Boris Johnson. It made them proud to be British, they said (Britons who can now get to Paris in a head-spinning two and a quarter hours).

But perhaps the greatest compliment came from Guillaume Pépy, head of the French railway SNCF, who described St Pancras as possibly the best station in the world.

In a night of railway theatre befitting such a dramatic station, the 1,000 VIP guests were entertained by a ceremony featuring an orchestra, singers and giant screens. Timothy West played the creator of the original station, William Barlow, whose 240ft shed is still the framework of the station nearly a century and a half later.

Opening the £800 million terminal, the Queen said: "The remarkable rebirth of this great and gleaming station means that people across the whole of Britain, not just the South-East, are suddenly quite a bit closer to Europe.

"Looking around me, I am filled with hope that people of all backgrounds and ages, some of whom are not yet born, and most of whom we will never meet, will greatly benefit from the quality and the attention to detail which is at the heart of this significant undertaking, and will come to regard St Pancras not just as a station but as a destination."

At the event, which was also attended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor Ken Livingstone, the Queen and Prince Philip saw the huge Meeting Place statue of two lovers entwined underneath the Dent clock, as well as the statue of Sir John Betjeman, whose campaigning saved St Pancras from demolition.

Three trains arrived from Paris, which when the station opens a week today will be able for the first time to travel at 186mph on this side of the Channel as well as the French, cutting journey times by 20 minutes.

Among the guests was Tory leader David Cameron, who said: "The building looks wonderful and its renovation is going to have a tremendous effect in terms of regeneration. It's a great achievement and great for our country in general."

Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, said: "The station looks magnificent, fabulous. It makes you proud to be British and shows you what we can do with engineering in this country."

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott hailed the building as a masterpiece of British engineering. "It's iconic - a triumph of British engineering. We're witnessing a whole new era of railway travel for the 21st century."

Boris Johnson, the Conservatives' London mayoral candidate, said he was overcome by the beauty of the station. "It took my breath away - what a piece of engineering. It's a beautiful updating of a great landmark of London. It's fantastic to see the end of a wonderful project that's going to make a huge difference to the economy of London and Kent. It's going to connect the Continent to Britain in a totally different way. When people arrive from the Continent I think they'll be bowled over."

Leading British architect Terry Farrell, who designed the MI6 headquarters in Vauxhall, said: "It's been restored amazingly well. I'm very proud we've achieved this."

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said: "It's a symbol of British achievement, a sign of the growth of the railways and an example of British engineering at its best."

Tory peer Michael Heseltine said: "It's sensational. I remember John Betjeman's campaign to save the station from demolition in the Sixties and how right he was."

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