Queen Elizabeth II passed away Thursday at the age of 96, prompting a wave of worldwide mourning.
Tributes to the monarch, who reigned during eight different decades, in two different centuries and millennia have been pouring out around the globe.
During the years as head of the British Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth traveled to New York City just three times, but they were all were a big deal, even for a queen.
At a luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria, the Queen speaks flanked by former President Herbert Hoover (who lived at the hotel) NYC Mayor Robert Wagner, Sen. Jacob Javits, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Sen Irving Ives & Maj S.K. Anthony of Ghana
1957
The Queen visited New York City in 1957 –five years after her accession to the throne at just 25 years old. She was met with a motorcade and a ticker-tape parade as she traveled down Fifth Avenue and visited the top of the Empire State Building which was lit up in purple and silver in her honor that evening.
The Waldorf Astoria New York has hosted a long string of kings, queens, presidents and Hollywood stars over its 85 year run. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were among them, stayed at the hotel where a banquet was held in the Grand Ballroom in their honor (above).
The Queen’s uncle, The Duke of Windsor and his wife, Wallis Simpson, lived at the Waldorf for a time after he abdicated the throne, which was the reason that Princess Elizabeth came Queen after her father, King George, died suddenly.
Installation shot of Royal photos from the Waldorf Astoria at Gallery 52, June 2021
After the Waldorf was sold for $2 billion to the Chinese Insurance group Anbang in 2014, the contents of the hotel were auctioned off. I bought 25 photographs that hung in the hotel, including two of the Queen on her visits in ’57 and ’76. I staged an exhibit of those photographs at my Gallery 52 in upstate New York last summer, pictured here.
Queen Elizabeth arrives at The Waldorf Astoria, in Oct of ’76
1976
Queen Elizabeth made a brief trip to NYC as part of the celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, which was fought to escape rule of the British, btw.
Sailing into the harbor on board the royal yacht, Britannia, the queen was greeted by a 21-gun salute and later at Federal Hall, the queen was made an honorary citizen of New York City.
She once again stayed at the Waldorf Astoria and the Queen and Prince Philip visited the New York Stock Exchange and even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Bloomingdale’s.
On the night of Friday, July 9, 1976, the Queen set sail from New York to New Haven.
The New York Times published a story from the AP from July 11, 1976, that says 50,000 people lined the docks, streets and the airport in New Haven, Connecticut for a glimpse of the queen’s brief 40‐minute visit.
The Queen pays her respects at Ground Zero
2010
It would be 35 years before Queen Elizabeth returned to NYC. Her 2010 visit was the culmination of an 8-day tour of Canada. A day before heading back to England, the queen addressed the United Nations for the first time since 1957.
The trip was an emotional one, as the Queen visited Ground Zero and paid their respects to the lives lost during the 9/11 terrorist attacks and laid a wreath at the site of the World Trade Center.
The Queen and Prince Philip also visited The British Garden in Hanover Square located in the Financial District where there is a memorial to British citizens who died at the WTC on Sept. 11, 2001.
Two days after the attack on Sept 13, 2001, the Queen had broken a centuries-old tradition, directing the The Star-Spangled Banner to be played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
Watch.
(Photos, collection, Trey Speegle; via NBC News)