for the press. They can [laughter] I don’t matter. 70 years, 7 decades of service and duty to her people. Our record-breaking platinum queen, her majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has devoted herself to her people since 1952 following the early death of her father, King George V 6th. As her Platinum Jubilee year builds to a crescendo of summer celebrations, her majesty will surely stop for a moment to reflect on the extraordinary changes the world has seen during her reign.
Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception. She has seen 14 prime ministers. The Queen did me the great honor. The Queen has asked me to form a new administration. to form a government. And I have accepted. And I accepted. And I have accepted. Met 13 of the 14 US presidents, survived assassination attempts, and calmly dealt with her own family crisis.
She has made over 280 overseas state visits to other countries and her Commonwealth of nations. She has unveiled countless plaques and cut too many ribbons to remember. My goodness, I’ve been busy. But all who come into her purview, even fleetingly, will vividly remember that regal presence, dignity, and charisma she brings with her even into her ‘ 90s.
living under the constant and intense scrutiny of the media, but able to do so much to help and support those who look to the monarchy for leadership and example. Seven decades of a head of state in her position, not because of a popular vote, but because her people respect and revere what she does for her nation.
[snorts] Hey, hey, hey. This afternoon, the queen did me the great honor to ask me to form a government. I have accepted this duty. The 1950s was a difficult time for Britain as postwar austerity still dominated the nation’s economy, but also for the queen personally, grieving for her recently deceased father.
Man first went into space in the 1950s and the discovery of DNA heralded fantastic scientific breakthroughs. To have a look around the next corner has always been a characteristic of the human race. And this characteristic is most unlikely to wither just at this moment of history when the first steps into another unknown have just been taken.
The Queen’s coronation was televised live, much to the constonation of her first prime minister, Winston Churchill. But television also offered the opportunity to see the Queen broadcasting her Christmas message. The decade started for her majesty with the birth of her second child, Anne, now the Princess Royal.
She became queen on the death of her father on February the 6th, 1952. But her coronation did not take place until June the 2nd, 1953. It was in Kenya at the royal hunting lodge that the news of the king’s death reached his daughter. When she returned from a night in the forest, it was to learn that she is now the queen, exceeding to her father’s throne immediately.
There is no break in the continuity of the British monarchy. It was her own decision to return at once to London. In fact, she had already started her decades of service, having stood in for her father during the last few years of his life, and when he was unable to fulfill his duties through ill health. Following her coronation, her majesty’s influence was quickly established, inexperienced though she was, but guided by the most experienced of prime ministers, Winston Churchill.
When she embarked with Prince Philillip on a six-month world tour, making her the first reigning monarch to visit Australia and New Zealand, dubbed by the media as her world commonwealth tour, she may not have known it would remain the longest overseas tour of her 70 years on the throne. Heat. Heat.
Along the two-mile lane formed by yachts, the Queen and Duke headed towards Farm Cove, the historic place where the first governor of New South Wales landed more than 150 years ago. Awaiting them were men whose names are famous throughout the world. The Governor General, Sir William Slim, welcomed her majesty on behalf of the whole Commonwealth of Australia.
And after him came the governor of New South Wales. Then our good friend, the Prime Minister, Mr. Menses, and other notables of the city itself. Her majesty replied to the address of welcome. Standing at last on Australian soil on this spot that is the birthplace of the nation. I want to tell you all how happy I am to be amongst you and how much I look forward to my journey through Australia.
Whilst the Queen was on her world tour, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president of the USA and his inauguration was quickly followed by an end to racial segregation in public schools. Churchill resigned halfway through the decade and Anthony Eden was invited by the queen to form a government on her behalf, followed by Harold McMillan in 1957.
This afternoon the queen did me the great honor to ask me to form a government. I have accepted this duty. The occasion is a sad one for me, brought about as it is by the retirement of my old and very dear friend Anthony Eden. Queen Elizabeth visited her North American realm for the first time since ascending the throne. Canada summoned up a regal display of pomp and ceremony to hail a beloved ruler.
It was also in 1957 that the Queen became the first monarch to open the Canadian Parliament and she went on to address the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. The royal couple proceeded up Broadway, the Canyon of Heroes, bombarded by tons of ticker tape, millions of cheers, and what was the most enthusiastic reception anywhere in Elizabeth’s 10-day North American tour.
The Monarch of 10 Commonwealth nations was New York’s queen for a day. In 1955, the government finally took action and prohibited the burning of coal in London, putting an end to the infamous London smog, which had taken so many lives. The mid-50s seemed to take the country from one problem to the next, with the sewers crisis dividing the UK government when Britain and France invaded Egypt.
When President Abdul Nasser announced its seizure by Egypt thrust, Israeli troops struck down the Sinai Peninsula to within a few miles of the canal itself. Within days, Egyptian forces were completely routed. The stage was set for the next move in the complex Suez situation.
Britain and France after a short ultimatum in a joint sea and air invasion attacked following a preliminary air bombardment. From a staging area on Cypress, airborne troops pickly followed and established a beach head at the entrance to the canal. They were followed by seaborn contingents which swiftly control the Mediterranean end of the vital waterway.
The 1950s witnessed the beginning of what was to become a revolution in youth and music culture on both sides of the Atlantic with Bill Haley and the Comets winning two top 10 hits taking the focus from the traditional kuners such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Rosemary Clooney asleep. counting my blessings.
In 1957, during her uplifting address to the nation in the Queen’s Christmas Message, she said, “Today things are very different. I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice. But I can do something else. I can give you my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.
The world witnessed extraordinary change during the first 10 years of the queen’s reign with enormous strides forward in science and technology, but with Britain in the doldrums trying to establish a new postwar order. Her first 8 years of reign and the end of the 1950s saw the start of the Vietnam War and a world stage readying itself for the conflicts of the 1960s.
Listen, the Eagle has landed. Uh today being appointed Prime Minister by the Queen If the 1950s were difficult, the speed of change in technology and culture accelerated rapidly during the 1960s. Following the birth of her second son, Prince Andrew, her younger sister’s troubled love life looked as though it was taking a turn for the better with Princess Margaret’s marriage to society photographer Anthony Armstrong Jones.
At the same time, Prime Minister Harold McMillan made his famous winds of change speech, asking the white ruling government of South Africa to start the process of true democratization and to acknowledge the beginnings of the end of apartade. Perhaps one of the biggest and most important of cultural changes took place in 1961 when with a woman on the throne, birth control pills became commercially available, placing the power of procreation or not in the hands of women for the first time ever.
Women could now make their own decisions if and when they wanted children. The queen has great conviction and belief in the value of the Commonwealth of Nations. During the reign of her grandmother, Queen Victoria, Britain had been one of the world’s most prolific colonizers, building an empire on which the sun famously never set.
The 1950s and60s saw perhaps the biggest breaking up of the empire following the gaining of independence of India in 1947. Ghana, South Africa, Jamaica, and others were quickly establishing their own constitutions and ways of governing, and the queen was determined to find some good in history and to create a thriving Commonwealth of nations based around the remnants of the British Empire.
She set about the task with great energy and enthusiasm, determined to make a difference, and to maintain close social and cultural ties with member countries of the Commonwealth. This gathering shows the diversity of peoples, creeds, and cultures within the Commonwealth. Each having an equal place in our organization of nations.
In the wide association which is the Commonwealth, we must all try to cultivate the virtues of tolerance and understanding, to recognize each other’s qualities, and to respect each other’s feelings. In this modern age, the strength and unity of the Commonwealth family does not lie in bonds forged by formal instruments, nor in common ancestry, nor in pursuing the same political line.
It springs from the knowledge that we all share a lively concern for individual freedom and all the machinery which makes this possible. Majestic Oranduick Falls in British Gana seems to put on added sparkle for the occasion. A visit from Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. The royal pair stop first at this soontobe independent colony before touring their dominions in the West Indies.
They receive an enthusiastic welcome that covers the tensions that see in the background. British Gana has been the scene of race wars between East Indians and Negroes and its touchandgo as to which faction will gain control with independence next May. In face of bomb threats, security was tight and authorities would not let the queen travel more than 7 miles from Georgetown.
In the capital, however, nothing mars the festive moon. In the legislative chambers, portraits are unveiled which will link an independent Gana with the crown. There’s an informal reception at Prominade Gardens and even some of the opposition party members are here to greet the queen. Elizabeth and Philip take a ride on the oldest railroad in South America, a line running to the sugar plantation of Labon and Cassion.
This railway was built only a few years after the first one in England began operation. Now, the Queen will board the Royal Yacht for a 5-week cruise through the Caribbean. In the early60s, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the USA and he continued the process of trying to bring a greater equality to his country and ending the racism which had blighted the nation for so long.
And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only. It ought to be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops. Famously, Kennedy was killed by an assassin as his motorcade drove through Dallas on November 22nd, 1963.
as he places a wreath marked from President Johnson and the nation. Of course, her majesty sent her own messages of condolence to our cousins across the Atlantic, and she was said to have greatly enjoyed her meeting with Kennedy during his visit to the United Kingdom. He said, “I shall always cherish the memory of that delightful evening.
” It was also in 1963 that the Beatles released their first album, quickly establishing themselves as the forerunners to a new era of non-conformist pop culture. The Queen must have been a go at the changes happening on her own doorstep. Mods fighting rockers on the seafront at Brighton and a new breed of fashion designer introducing the miniskirt onto an unsuspecting public.
The country was looking for something new, a breath of new life into postwar Britain, and the swinging London scene became the backdrop for that shift. The Queen, not to be left behind, adopted her own sense of style, keeping that sense of conservative dignity, yet adopting a more modern look, which she took with her on her travels, championing the British fashion designers of the time.
The summer of 1966 was a defining moment of national pride when England beat West Germany in the Football World Cup in front of a packed Wembley Stadium and an enormous TV audience. The Queen must surely have enjoyed a great moment of pride as she presented the trophy to Bobby Moore, England’s captain. The late60s also saw the start of decades of civil strife and troubles in Northern Ireland and personal security was tightened not only for the monarch and her family but also for politicians as terrorism arrived on Britain’s
shores. Her Majesty’s forces were called in to quell rioting in the streets of Belfast when local police were unable to deal with the unrest. There was a very deep sense of loss by the entire nation when 166 children and 28 adults were killed in Abberavan in Wales when the spoil tip of a coal mine slid down a hill and buried the children’s school.
The queen visited Abberan a week after the disaster, trying to find some way to offer some words of comfort in a small town stunned by the enormity of the tragedy and their very own personal losses. As the 60s drew to a close, 1969 saw Nixon elected to the White House. Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales, and the nation was treated to a groundbreaking documentary showing the royal family at home, relaxing and enjoying their leisure time.
The Duke of Edinburgh had initiated the film, hoping the more open approach would bring the Queen closer to her people and help the royal family to retain their relevance and survive in a fast changing world. Listen, uh, Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed. Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground.
You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot. In June 1969, man walked on the moon. The astronauts had with them on their mission a tiny disc that contained a message from Queen Elizabeth that stated, “On behalf of the British people, I salute the skills and courage which have brought man to the moon.
May this endeavor increase the knowledge and well-being of mankind.” On October the 14th, 1969, the three astronauts from the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Uldren, and Michael Collins, visited Buckingham Palace at the invitation of the royal family. If the 1960s had witnessed such an immense change in so many different spheres of life, it all just accelerated in the 1970s.
Tired of touring and the commercial pressures of the music industry, the Fab Four, Britain’s greatest iconic pop group, finally decided to end their musical collaboration. And the Beatles went their separate ways, bringing to an end the most extraordinary and prolific musical collaboration, and one whose music still endures to this day.
In the UK, Edward Heath became prime minister and the Queen and Prince Philillip set off on a long visit to Australia and the Pacific Rim to celebrate 200 years since Cook’s discovery of Australia. It was also in 1970 that the Queen went on her first ever walkabout, leaving the safety of her entourage and getting close up with the cheering crowds, shaking hands, and chatting with eager royalists during her Australian trip.
Keen to connect more with the people, her walkabout proved enormously popular and is to this day quite naturally a part of many a royal visit. Every coin and banknote in the United Kingdom has a portrait of the queen. And in 1971, 1,000 years of pounds, shillings, and pence came to an end when on the 15th of February 1971, decimalization was brought to Britain.
The portraits of course remain to this day, but two shillings became 10 p and new coins were minted to replace the old. After years of postwar wrangling across the English Channel, British Prime Minister of the day Edward Heath took Britain into the European Economic Community, enabling free trade between its member nations whilst regulating some of the commercial activity and product standards.
It wasn’t long after this momentous change that Heath was brought down by the miners strike and Harold Wilson was once again invited by the Queen to form her government. Amidst much fanfare and a ceremony televised in color to the nation, the Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, married fellow equestrian enthusiast Captain Mark Phillips on the 14th of November 1973 at Westminster Abbey.
the first of her children to marry. The day must have provided a great deal of personal joy to the queen. Following the long aftermath of the scandal of the Watergate affair, Richard Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford took office as US president. I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body.
At the same time, Concord began commercial flights for British Airways and Air France, and her majesty was invited to a state dinner at the White House in Washington DC, hosted by President Ford and his wife Betty to celebrate their continued relationship between the UK and the US. The Queen and the President danced together and wowed everybody who was there that evening.
A new era in our transatlantic special relationship was born, and the Queen had more than admirably done her duty once again. 1976 saw the appointment of Britain’s first ever minister for drought during the long hot summer when a water shortage was declared following record high temperatures and very little rainfall for many months.
The Queen must have looked out on the brown and dry stubble of the lawns in the back garden of Buckingham Palace, doing her bit to lead the nation in minimizing water usage until rain finally arrived in September. As the decade marched on, her majesty invited Jim Callahan to form a government and another James Jimmy Carter was limbering up for his spell as US president.
Both their terms of office can only have been overshadowed by the appearance of Darth Vader on our screens in 1977. And one can only wonder at what the queen may have thought of lightsabers, R2-D2, and Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Star Wars generation was being born just as the Queen’s Silver Jubilee was getting underway and the nation was celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 25 years as reigning monarch in Guild Hall.
After lunch, the Queen rose to make a speech live to the Commonwealth. At this moment of my silver jubilee, I want to thank all those in Britain and the Commonwealth who through their loyalty and friendship have given me strength and encouragement during these last 25 years. My thanks go also to the many thousands who have sent me messages of congratulations on my silver jubilee.
that and their good wishes for the future. My Lord Mayor, when I was 21, I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God’s help to make good that vow. Although that vow was made in my salad days when I was green in judgment, I do not regret nor attract one word of it. The Queen and Prince Philip took on goodwill visits through the year, visiting 36 counties in Britain and embarking on a Commonwealth tour, taking in Tonga and Fiji, then onto New Zealand and Australia, rounded off by visits to Papua, New Guinea, the West Indies, and
finally Canada, where they were joined by Prince Charles. Following the celebrations of 1977, the next few years were a roller coaster of highs and lows for Britain and for the Queen. Margaret Thatcher was elected Britain’s first female prime minister, and the nation had two women in the most powerful and influential offices in the land.
Her Majesty, the Queen, has asked me to form a new administration, and I have accepted. Sadly, the Queen’s cousin, Lord Louie Mountbatton, was killed by an IRA bomb. Mountbatton had been a mentor and friend to Prince Charles, and he was a trusted friend and adviser to the royal family. It must have been a bitter blow to the Queen when he was assassinated.
To add to the woes of the decade, the surveyor of the Queen’s pictures, art historian Anthony Blunt, was exposed as a Soviet spy. What kind of work were you doing for the Russians then inside the MI5? Um, the information that I passed to them was almost exclusively about German intelligence services.
Uh, and that was largely information which again, as I said in um in my statement, a lot of people in MI5 thought ought to have been given officially. For her majesty to have had a communist infiltrator freely walking the halls of Buckingham Palace must have been a distressing embarrassment with which to end the decade.
When you made your confession, did the queen know? Well, this is a question again which I shall like I would rather not discuss because my information is so to speak second if not secondhand is rather vague. Um, and I can only say that as far as I was told at the time and later she was not. The 80s would offer extraordinary ups and downs and worldchanging events which would test the Queen’s resilience yet also bring immense reward.
The start of the decade witnessed record low temperatures across the UK. John Lennon’s shocking and brutal murder outside his apartment in New York and at the end of the year Ronald Reagan’s election as president of the United States. She holds many offices and titles, but one of the most important and significant for her as well as her people is that of head of the church of England, a position held by the sovereign since Henry VIII.
So it was a real landmark in the annals of history when Queen Elizabeth II visited Vatican City at the invitation of the pope and the heads of two of the world’s foremost churches greeted each other warmly. It was followed in 1982 by the first ever visit of a pope to the UK when Pope John Paul II visited nine UK cities in 5 days.
Computer technology was still in its infancy, but in 1981, Pac-Man was released, and the world of computer games was given its first game designed to capture a female audience as well as male. It is still considered one of the most iconic and influential games ever, and a turning point away from shoot them up video games.
There must have been many moments in her 70-year reign when the queen has had to keep a cool head, and none more so than when six shots were fired from a handgun pointed straight at her by a man in the crowd during the trooping the color ceremony in June 1981. The shots turned out to be blacks, but the queen won widespread admiration and praise for her horsemanship in calming her startled ride and carrying on to finish the important ceremony as if nothing had happened.
When the queen came by, you know, in the corner, he just stepped backwards, you know, took about a half step backwards and uh raised it up in his right hand and then uh, you know, held it police marksman style and fired about four or five shots. Then what happened? Then there was, you know, like I said, about three of us that came in from his right and behind, you know, and got him over the railing into the street itself and then the constables came and took him.
Had you noticed him earlier? I’d seen him before, you know, all morning long. He’d been there longer than I had. Was there anything unusual about him? Just that he was alone, you know, by himself and didn’t speak to anybody. The queen had also kept a very cool head when she was awoken by a burglar sitting on the end of her bed.
He had scaled the walls of Buckingham Palace and somehow found his way into her private apartments, sitting, chatting casually until the police arrived to arrest him. So, Michael Fagan visited Buckingham Palace twice, but committed no offense. The idea came to him, he says, when visiting the palace with his children and studying the security.
Each time, he followed a similar route. On the occasion he found the queen in her bedroom, he began by climbing the railings outside the ambassador’s entrance and got into the stamp room through an unlocked window, but the internal door was locked. So, he shinned up a drain pipe outside onto a flat roof, a roof now guarded by police.
1981 had its difficult moments, but all that will have been put aside for a day of personal pride and joy for her majesty when on July the 29th, 1981, Prince Charles, the Queen’s eldest son and he apparent to the throne, married Lady Diana Spencer in a ceremony which captured the hearts and minds of the nation and which was watched by a record TV audience across the globe.
Just a year later, the Queen enjoyed another personal family moment when she held her first grandchild, Prince William, at his christening, and she proudly posed for family photos. The early 80s were tough times at home for Britain, with unemployment reaching record levels of over 3 million. But more drama was to come when the Faulland Islands, a British dependent territory in the South Atlantic, were invaded by Argentina.
From April the 2nd to June the 14th, 1982, the Faullands were occupied by Argentinian forces. Her Majesty’s armed services went to an undeclared war and 255 British servicemen lost their lives along with three local civilians before the islands were retaken. The commander of the operation has sent the following message.
be pleased to inform her majesty that the white enson flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God save the queen. What happens next? Thank you very much. Let’s rejoice at that news and congratulate our forces and the Marines. Are we going to declare war on statue? Rejoice. The Queen and Prince Philillip headed east, making Elizabeth the first British sovereign to make a state visit to China.
It was both a state visit and a diplomatic one coming a short time after negotiations between the UK and the People’s Republic of China about returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty. So it came about that only a few favored party officials and a lot of press were permitted to witness this piece of history. The 77year-old president Lee Shanyan moved carefully to perform the ceremonial greeting.
But the queen had scored one point. She was in an ordinary limousine instead of the dark windows closed curtains model the Chinese had offered and the color of her mohare coat was a compliment to her host’s political persuasions. The meeting with President Lee produced a handshake of record-breaking duration.
1986 called for yet more diplomacy by her majesty when sanctions were proposed against South Africa by all but one member of the Commonwealth of which the queen is head. Margaret Thatcher did not believe sanctions would have the desired result and she felt British interests would be damaged, but she would not go against her queen and limited sanctions were finally agreed upon, repeatedly sounding the death nail for the aparted regime which had ruled South Africa for so long and paving the way for the release of Nelson Mandela.
At Buckingham Palace tonight, the Commonwealth leaders are dining with the Queen. An informal occasion, no speeches, but no one underestimates the Queen’s ability to have the right word in the right ear, especially when it comes to the Commonwealth. The 80s was a time in which great strides were taken in bringing about a peaceful solution to the decades of tension between East and West, the Soviet Union, and the superpowers of the Western world, of which the queen is head of one. Diplomatic ties and state
visits between the UK and the USA with President Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in regular communication led to a state visit by Reagan and the first occasion on which a US president stayed overnight at Windsor Castle. In the same decade, diplomatic efforts brought about the end of the Cold War when Reagan and Gorbachov signed a peace treaty.
It was a time of great change in the world, but one in which her majesty played a significant role in bringing about peaceful and diplomatic answers to seemingly unsolvable issues. It would previously have been unthinkable that a Soviet leader would lunch with the queen at Windsor Castle, but in 1989, Mikail Gorbachov made a historic visit to Britain.
And during that lunch, he invited the queen to visit Moscow. The relationship between Gorbachov and Thatcher thawed, and a diplomatic solution was found to a long-standing tension between two great nations. Yo, I’ll tell you what I want. What I really, really want. No. Tell me what you want. What you really, really want. I’ll tell you what I want.
What I really, really want. No. Tell me what you want. What you really want. The ’90s saw extraordinary advances in technology with the start of the internet and the launch of Amazon and Google, as well as the first ever successful clone, Dolly the Sheep. Following the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was dismantled.
But the ’90s would prove to be her majesty’s most challenging decade, facing her 1992 annis Horibilis and the untimely death of her once daughter-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales. 1990 saw a shift in British politics when Margaret Thatcher resigned and she handed the reigns to John Major. The 1990s also saw the end of a partaided in South Africa.
In February 1990, Nelson Mandela was freed, having been imprisoned for 27 years. Mandela’s first visit to a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting was to the Harrari summit in October 1991, where he arrived unexpectedly and without a prior invitation to the banquet hosted by the Queen as head of the Commonwealth. [cheering] Rapid reshuffleling of the table settings averted a potential public relations disaster after the queen insisted he be allowed to stay.
By 1994, Mandela became president of South Africa and swiftly the country rejoined the Commonwealth. The Queen and Mandela were known to have a close friendship and a strong mutual admiration and he was one of the few people who would simply call her Elizabeth. On the 16th of May 1991, Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to address the US Congress.
Her speech lasted 15 minutes and received three standing ovations. She summed it up by saying, “You will find us worthy partners, and we are proud to have you as our friends. May God bless America.” On that particular trip, George HW Bush invited the Queen and Prince Philip to Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, which was the first time the Queen visited a baseball game.
The following year would mark one of the most notably difficult years for the Queen. dubbed her Anus Horribulis. It was a year that saw the separation of Charles and Diana and the media storm that preceded it, the year of Anne and Mark Phillips divorce, as well as the destruction caused by a fire at Windsor Castle.
1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the [clears throat] words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annis horrib. I sometimes wonder how future generations will judge the events of this tumultuous year. I dare say that history would take a slightly more moderate view than that of some contemporary commentators.
He who has never failed to reach perfection has a right to be the harshest critic. After much debate on the suggestion that the taxpayer pay for the damage, in 1993, Buckingham Palace opened its doors to the paying public for the first time to recoup some of the cost to rebuild Windsor Castle. For the first time in history, the Queen and the royal family also began to pay taxes.
It was in that same year that Bill Clinton was inaugurated as the 42nd president of the USA. The following year, Clinton and his wife stayed on the royal yacht Britannia before heading to Normandy for the D-Day anniversary. Clinton later wrote of the Queen in his memoir, “Her Majesty impressed me as someone who, but for the circumstance of her birth, might have become a successful politician or diplomat.
As it was, she had to be both without quite seeming to be either.” In 1994, the Queen made a historic trip. She and Prince Philillip traveled to Russia on a state visit, staying at the Kremlin for 3 days. It was the first ever state visit to Russia by a British monarch. The Russian presidential spokesperson said of the visit, “We realized that the British queen would never have visited a communist country, and it was deemed a highly significant and symbolic moment.
In 1995, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were invited to Cape Town by President Mandela. My memories of South Africa are part of me and I have wanted to return to this magnificent country. That wish has never deserted me through a half century during which you have seen turmoil and tragedy.
Now though, you have become one nation whose spirit of reconciliation is a shining example to the world. On the Queen’s first official visit to postapartate South Africa against security advice, she and her husband visited black townships where they were greeted with tears of joy by black and white supporters alike.
Their trip saw the greatest rain season for over 10 years and she was given the nickname Mottlepula, meaning rain queen after her tour. President Mandela was invited to Buckingham Palace in 1996 and he spoke in adoration for this gracious lady. You have yourself provided the leadership and by your willingness to embrace your former captives have set the course towards national reconciliation.
and freedom for all the people of South Africa. As we approach the 21st century, our relationship is one of friendship fortified on South Africa’s side by a warmth and respect for yourself, for Britain, and for the Commonwealth. The face of British politics saw a drastic change in 1997 as Tony Blair became prime minister, ending 18 years of conservative government.
In a ceremony attended by the new prime minister, Hong Kong was returned to China after 155 years as a British colony. China will tonight take responsibility for a place and a people which matter greatly to us all. The triumphant success of Hong Kong demands and deserves to be maintained. In August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died an untimely and tragic death, leaving the Queen’s
grandchildren, William and Harry, without a mother. At the time, the Queen, Philillip, and Charles felt it wise to keep the two young boys at Balmoral Castle and give them time to process what had happened and protect them from the world’s media. However, fueled by the tabloid press, there was a degree of unrest in the nation as the royal family remained seemingly silent.
On her return to London with princes William and Harry, the Queen addressed the nation on live TV. It was a personal but very public tribute to Diana and lifted the spirits of a grieving public. What I say to you now as your queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart. First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself.
She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh. nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her for her energy and commitment to others and especially for her devotion to her two boys. As the millennium was drawing to a close, 1998 saw the impeachment of Bill Clinton for high crimes and misdemeanors.
The Good Friday Agreement was reached in 1998, a significant moment that ended most of the violence of the troubles. And today’s historic agreement marks a new beginning for all of us in Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland and in these islands. And finally, in 1999, the Queen’s youngest child, Edward, married Sophie Reese Jones.
At the centerpiece of the celebrations, the Millennium Dome, the prime minister hugged his wife while the queen kissed the Duke of Edinburgh. Then the audience broke into a chorus of old Langzine. Sheree Blair in full voice before the royal party had even linked arms. With a slightly less than amused look on her otherwise inscrable face, the Queen and Prince Philip welcomed in the new year and the new millennium with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The 2000s, as well as bringing the growth of the internet into the digital age with the launch of Facebook and YouTube, also brought its own challenges. The beginning of the war on terror and more widespread concern over climate change. British citizens can apply to receive a birthday letter from the Queen when they reach their 100th birthday.
And the Queen Mother was no different. In early 2000, Queen Elizabeth sent the Queen Mother a standard congratulatory letter, though this one was handwritten and she signed it Lily. In January 2001, George W. Bush became president of the United States, but his agenda and priorities were quickly altered following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on the 11th of September 2001.
The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,977 people and it remains the worst single terror attack in human history. The US and UK remain strong allies and the Queen offering words of support to a nation in mourning sent a message read by the British ambassador to Washington during a prayer service. These are dark and harrowing times for families and friends of those who are missing or who suffered in the attack.
many of you here today. My thoughts and my prayers are with you all now and in the difficult days ahead. But nothing that can be said can begin to take away the anguish and the pain of these moments. Grief is the price we pay for love. That sentiment lived on as the queen faced the loss of two very important people in her life.
The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret died within a month of each other in 2002. Very rarely for the Queen, she gave a televised address to the nation after the death of her mother, thanking the public for the outpouring of love and prayers. Ever since my beloved mother died over a week ago, I have been deeply moved by the outpouring of affection which has accompanied her death.
My family and I always knew what she meant for the people of this country and the special place she occupied in the hearts of so many here in the Commonwealth and in other parts of the world. But the extent of the tribute that huge numbers of you have paid my mother in the last few days has been overwhelming.
I have drawn great comfort from so many individual acts of kindness and respect. Although 2002 was a year of great personal loss, it was also the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year. In celebration, she traveled to 70 cities and towns across the UK from May to August. As part of the huge national celebrations following a public party at the palace, Brian May played a unique rendition of the national anthem on the roof of Buckingham Palace.
An iconic moment that marked the celebration of the Queen’s reign and the sense of patriotism among British people. 2003 saw the first occasion that the UK Parliament held a vote to show its position in response to the declaration of war. The sovereign has the power to declare war without parliamentary approval.
But this was the first time parliament could indicate where they stood. Prime Minister Tony Blair led the UK to join with the US in the Iraq war to take down Saddam Hussein. The Queen’s eldest son, Prince Charles, remarried in 2005. In a small civil ceremony, Charles and Camila married at Windsor Guild Hall. Buckingham Palace announced the Queen would not attend the ceremony, but would attend the church blessing and host a reception.
In 2005, London faced its own terrorist tragedy with four separate suicide attacks on London’s public transport. The Queen has just issued her reaction to uh today’s events in London. It says, “Uh, the dreadful events in London this morning have deeply shocked us all. I know I speak for the whole nation in expressing my sympathy to all those affected and the relatives of the killed and injured.
I have nothing but admiration, she goes on, for the emergency services as they go about their work. After a significant reduction in Labour’s majority, low approval ratings, and the Iraq war, Tony Blair resigned, leaving Gordon Brown to become prime minister in 2007. I have just accepted the invitation of her majesty the queen to form a government.
This will be a new government with new priorities and I have been privileged to have been granted the great opportunity to serve my country. But for the queen, it was a year she and Philip celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and when the queen became the oldest ever reigning monarch. Approaching the end of the decade, the world faced the Great Recession, the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Barack Obama took over the White House when he was elected president in 2009, the first African-Amean to hold that office. The Queen and Philip met with President and Michelle Obama in Buckingham Palace, forging what would become a strong relationship. Michelle notably broke royal protocol when she put an arm around the Queen.
She later wrote about the incident in her memoir and they shared a funny moment about how uncomfortable their shoes were. The 2010s started amidst a global financial crisis. Technological progression brought us widespread use of smartphones along with huge advancements in data processing with the exponential growth of social media leading to the MeToo movement and cancel culture.
China’s one child policy was ended in 2015. The people of Britain voted to leave the EU and US TV celebrity Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the USA. The decade saw the Queen’s own family grow as both her grandsons started families of their own. British politics was facing another critical change.
In the 2010 general election, the Conservatives led by David Cameron won 306 seats, but it was 20 seats short of an overall majority, resulting in a hung parliament. and Cameron announced his intention to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, which would be the first since the Second World War. Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to form a new government, and I have accepted.
Before I talk about that new government, let me say something about the one that has just passed. Compared with a decade ago, this country is more open at home and more compassionate abroad. And that is something we should all be grateful for. In 2011, Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland.
And during her visit, she spoke publicly about the troubles in the north. Madame President, speaking here in Dublin Castle, it is impossible to ignore the weight of history as it was yesterday when you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of Remembrance. Indeed, so much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history, its many layers and traditions, but also the importance of forbearance and consiliation, of being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.
These events have touched us all, many of us personally, and are a painful legacy. We could never forget those who have died or been injured and their families. The following year, the Queen shook hands with former IRA leader Martin McInness, a symbolic moment of forgiveness and reconciliation, which for many welcomed a new era of peace.
Their body language for the public handshake seemed to bear that out. There was clearly a friendly atmosphere. Good. Well, went really well. Mr. McInness was delighted, but not a convert. I’m still a Republican. Watson, how was it to meet the queen? Very nice. For the next few years, Britain was bustling with excitement and anticipation, first for the wedding of William and Kate, which would see the marriage of the future king.
Royal reporters have said in preparation for the wedding, William confided in the Queen after having looked at the extensive guest list, explaining he didn’t know those invited. The Queen told William to forget the guest list to invite the people he and Kate wanted, and if there were any leftover spaces, the list could be revisited.
The Olympic Games, due to be held in London in the summer of 2012, were also a cause for much excitement. This will be the third Olympiad, third London Olympiad. My greatgrandfather opened the 198 games at White City. My father opened the 1948 games at Wembley Stadium. And later this evening, I will take pleasure in declaring open the 2012 London Olympic Games at Stratford in the east of London.
The Queen showed a humorous side of her character that the public love, where she agreed to film a video where James Bond takes her to the stadium. She agreed on the condition that she could utter those immortal words, “Good evening, Mr. Bond. Good evening, sir. Bond. Good evening, your majesty. 2012 marked the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, a rare occasion for a monarch and the 60th anniversary since her accession to the throne.
Celebrations were widespread, including the Temp’s Diamond Jubilee pageant and the concert at Buckingham Palace. Your Majesty Mommy, [cheering] as a nation, this is our opportunity to thank you and my father for always being there for us, for inspiring us with your selfless duty and service, and for making us proud to be British.
The Queen was also invited by Prime Minister David Cameron to sit in on a cabinet meeting, which is believed to be the first time a monarch has done so since King George III. It’s a huge uh treat for a prime minister to to speak to her majesty every week for an hour, knowing I’m the 12th prime minister.
She started with Winston Churchill. Her knowledge, her experience of world events, of world leaders, of world issues is unparalleled. She’s an amazing listener, but she also asks some really pertinent questions. But I think above all, what we’re celebrating today is the 60 years she’s given of service to our country, but also this extraordinary institution that stands above politics, that brings the country together.
Something we’re all celebrating today that I think is such a valuable thing in our country and so admired across the world. With the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their desire to have their own family, the Queen amended the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement in the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.
The changes saw the end of the system of male primogenature, meaning whether the Camidages had a boy or a girl, their first child would take their place as third in line to the throne. And should it be a girl, she would not lose her place if they later had a boy. 2015 saw our record-breaking queen hit another landmark in her reign.
On the 9th of September, Queen Elizabeth surpassed her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria, and became the UK’s longest serving monarch. In the typical selfless style of Queen Elizabeth, she wanted the public to treat this day as any other. Many, including you, First Minister, have also kindly noted another significance attaching to today.
Although it is not one to which I have ever inspire aspired, inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception. But I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas for your touching messages of great kindness. After years of royal landmark celebrations, changes were a foot in the world of politics.
In 2016, a momentous referendum was held and the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, resulting in David Cameron resigning as Prime Minister being succeeded by Theresa May. In David Cameron, I follow in the footsteps of a great modern prime minister. Under David’s leadership, the government stabilized the economy, reduced the budget deficit, and helped more people into work than ever before.
But David’s true legacy is not about the economy, but about social justice. 2017 saw Donald Trump inaugurated as president of the USA amidst widespread protests. The UK found itself divided on Brexit with negotiations of the exit proving to be challenging. But around the corner, to the delight of the nation, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were to marry.
In some ways, their marriage demonstrated the progress and modernization of the monarchy. Meghan, a biracial American divorce, would not have been welcomed in the past. The Queen’s uncle, King Edward VIII, had to abdicate the throne to marry his American divorce. But during Elizabeth’s reign, much has changed, and Megan was warmly welcomed into the family.
By the end of the decade, Theresa May failed to pass her Brexit withdrawal agreement through Parliament three times, and subsequently she announced her resignation. I will shortly leave the job, but it has been the honor of my life to hold. The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.
Boris Johnson won the race for leadership of the Conservative Party and became Britain’s Prime Minister. Boris went on to win the general election later that year. Good afternoon. I have just been to see her majesty the queen who has invited me to form a government and I have accepted. I pay tribute to the fortitude and patience of my predecessor and her deep sense of public service.
No justice, no peace, no justice, noace, no justice, noace. The uniquely difficult start to the 2020s saw a global pandemic sweep across the world and protests and demonstrations worldwide against racism and police brutality after the death of George Floyd. The fall of Kabul marked the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, and the need to address climate change became a growing concern and has dubbed the 2020s as the decisive decade after worsening extreme weather.
January 2020 saw Harry and Megan make a sudden and for many unexpected move. They announced they would relinquish their roles as senior members of the royal family and their wish to lead more independent lives. Her Majesty released a statement promptly saying, “Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.
” In the months that followed, Corona virus started to make its way across the globe. Few thought corona virus would cause the world to stop for so long. It has caused a global economic recession and a supply chain crisis. But more close to home, it caused people to stop their lives, lock their doors, and stay away from the people they love for fear of transmitting a virus which may prove fatal.
In times of crisis, the queen has come through to offer the nation a sense of hope. At the start of the Corona virus, that is exactly what she did. She broadcast to the nation, referencing the wartime spirit that would be needed to get through this challenging time, but with the certainty that we would get through it.
And those who come after us will say the Britain of this generation were as strong as any. that the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good humored resolve, and of fellow feeling still characterize this country. We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again.
We will meet again. Following the defeat of Donald Trump, Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States, the 14th US president since her majesty came to the throne. It is an extraordinary statistic that nearly a third of US presidents have come and gone whilst the queen has remained sovereign. In April 2021, following a short illness, Prince Phillip, the Queen’s husband and her strength and stay died peacefully surrounded by his family.
The Queen has dedicated her life to her duty, but so did Philillip, always at her side and her greatest supporter. His funeral amid COVID restrictions saw a most poignant image of the queen sat alone in mourning for her utterly loyal and beloved husband. The words she used in her message after the 9/11 attacks were picked up again by reporters so moving and apt.
Grief is the price we pay for love. 2022 sees our queen’s 70th year on the throne. Her platinum jubilee, a wonderful opportunity for the nation to celebrate the achievements and longevity of this extraordinary woman. I did remark that it was upside down and you wouldn’t be able to see what was on it.
I thought it had to be upside down for the press. They can see. [laughter] I don’t I don’t matter. I think I’ll probably read it upside down. I think you probably [laughter] do this. That’s very nice. Uh there is a there is a knife. I don’t know whether you would like to just do a little bit. I think I might just put a knife in. I think that’s a really good idea.
See if it works. Oh yes, it goes in beautifully. Beautifully. Somebody else can finish it off. Do the the rest of it. [applause] With little real power, but with more influence than perhaps any other leader on the world stage, her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has conducted herself with grace, with dignity, and with determination.
She has been a constant cornerstone of stability in a seemingly everchanging world, earning unparalleled admiration and respect across the globe. She has traveled more than any monarch in history and is estimated to have met more people than any other human being. She has exemplified tolerance and forgiveness whilst inspiring the armed services in their own sense of duty.
As a young princess only 21 years old, Elizabeth with truly inspiring words dedicated her life to the service of her people and to the Commonwealth. I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join in it with me as I now invite you to do. I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it. She is our queen. Our platinum queen
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