Synopsis: I get to meet the Queen. Well, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I saw the Queen and Prince Phillip as they drove down Exeter High Street, and was at least lucky enough to get a few snaps.
Today, as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Queen and Prince Phillip visited the South West, including Exeter. They came down by train as far as Somerset where they spent time in the early morning. From there they were flown to Exeter where they conducted a ‘walkabout’ in the town centre before visiting Exeter University where the Queen opened the new ‘Forum’ facility.
As the Queen doesn’t visit Exeter that often, I thought I’d take a walk up to the city centre after my early morning swim to see if I might catch a glimpse of Her Majesty and Prince Phillip. I was a little early, so I wiled away some time in the Central Library before walking across to the High Street. I got there about 10:30 (The Queen was expected at 11:30), and already the centre was packed with a crowd lining the streets. I eventually saw a space at the barriers which lined the whole distance of the route. The crowd was told by a passing policeman that the Queen was running about 45 minutes late; I guess that’s Her Majesty’s prerogative.
After a wait of about an hour and a half the Queen’s cortege was seen entering the High Street at the top end near Next. The car detoured before it got to where I stood, as the Queen and Prince Phillip were to be treated to a dance display in Princesshay Square put on by young people from local schools and colleges. After an interval of about 30 minutes the car was seen again re-entering the High Street, this time heading in my direction.
It wasn’t easy to get a view of the Queen as she was driven in an enclosed car. The sun did at least put in a very tentative appearance which did brighten an otherwise very grey morning. I set my camera to ‘burst’ mode and just set it firing away. Of the set of photographs I took, only a very few were in any way usable. I have cropped these images significantly to obtain my small collection of photos of the Queen and Prince Phillip. Still, at least I fared better than my attempt at obtaining a photograph during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee visit to Exeter in 1977. On that occasion I only succeeded in obtaining a photograph which showed little more than her hat. Today, it was however pleasant to have shared in the atmosphere of this occasion, and I was pleased that I’d made the effort to be there.
Here are a couple of the photographs that I took on this occasion …
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Her Majesty The Queen
If you wish to see a selection of photographs of the Queen’s visit to Exeter superior to my paltry effort, here are two links to those taken by photographers of the local newspaper:
This is the official BBC video on YouTube of the visit. It is particularly interesting in that it contains footage of the then Princess Elizabeth opening Princesshay on her visit to Exeter in 1949. This YouTube video (by ‘baldmanuk’) captures an impression of what the visit was like for those standing in Princesshay. Plus Exeter crowds greet the Queen on BBC Devon web site.
The official itinerary for today was reported as follows:-
“The Royal Party will start the second day of their South-West tour by arriving at Yeovil Pen Mills Railway Station. They will continue by car to Ninesprings Country Park, Yeovil, where they will visit a special Diamond Jubilee Country Fayre.
The Royal party will continue by car to Crewkerne Town Hall, where they will view displays of local produce and see a display of significant historical items and documents.
They will arrive in Exeter by helicopter and will visit Princesshay, Exeter City Centre. The Royal party will ‘walkabout’ and view an exhibition of Youth and Performing Arts.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will travel by car to Exeter University where the will attend the Opening Ceremony for the new Forum Centre. The Queen will unveil a plaque to officially open this new development for Exeter University.
After the ceremony the Royal party will attend a reception and take lunch as guests of Exeter University to mark the end of their two day tour of the South-West. Guests will be drawn from Devon and Cornwall and the University Campus.”
No comments:
Post a Comment