Royal visit: Amazing scenes as thousands line the streets for the Queen
Mikaela Pearman and Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch
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Royalty; Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness motorcade make their way along Woodlawn�s Avenue with hundreds of student and adults line the streets with flags.
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Amazing scenes greeted the Queen and Prince Philip as their Royal motorcade drove back from Dockyard this afternoon with thousands of people lining the route to cheer and wave flags.
In stretches, people were lined up two or three deep as the Island turned out in force to give the Royal couple a huge welcome.
And it culminated in chaotic scenes as a massive crowd gathered along Par-La-Ville Road and Woodlands Road with thousands of children and adults standing, eager to get a view of the Queen as she drove past.
Earlier the streets of Hamilton had been lined with people waiting to catch a glimpse of the Queen and Prince Philip as they were brought through the city streets in a horse-drawn carriage for a morning service at the Cathedral.
As they made their way along Church Street, some strained to get a photo while others erupted into impromptu applause to welcome Bermuda’s head of state. Prince Philip waved and smiled while the Queen sat looking at the crowd.
“Why isn’t she waving?” an onlooker asked as the Queen climbed the steps of the Cathedral.
“At least her dress is beautiful, it is the exact colour of Bermuda’s ocean,” another onlooker commented.
As Her Majesty reached the top of the Cathedral steps she turned and gave her signature wave much to the delight of the crowd.
Magistrate Graveney Bannister was one of those watching.
“She looks wonderful today,” he said. “I saw her several years ago when she was in Barbados and she hasn’t aged at all. Her dress is very dapper indeed.”
Joyce Hammel, of San Francisco, was delighted her trip to Bermuda coincided with the Queen’s visit.
“It wasn’t planned at all. But when I heard she would be here I was so excited. I have always been a fan of the Royal family. To me she represents tradition. She has been doing this for five decades, it is important to look back and acknowledge the importance of history.
“The crowd has been so respectful and the school children so polite. Representatives of all five decades have lined the streets and it has been great to see.”
After a service at the Cathedral, the Queen and Prince Philip boarded a ferry to Dockyard. Hundreds waited at the terminal to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple.
People stood from Number One Shed to the end of Albuoy’s Point raising flags and holding flowers for the Queen. As the ferry passed the harbour more people stood at the Fairmont Hamilton waving the Union Jack.
When Her Majesty stepped off the ferry at Dockyard, she accepted three bouquets, before touring Dockyard.
Prince Philip visited the Spirit of Bermuda and then rejoined the Queen for a tour of the Clocktower where they saw a historical re-enactment by pupils from Sandys Middle School, met former Naval Dockyard apprentices and cedar-carver and former Premier David Saul.
The Queen, dressed in a teal coat and matching hat with white trim and a teal and white floral dress and white shoes, handbag and gloves, also visited Commissioner’s House, where she and Prince Philip viewed a mural depicting Bermuda’s 400 years.
One onlooker Sekai Wainwright, nine, of West End Primary School said: “I’m very excited to see the Queen because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m so excited.”
Yesterday the Queen was met by thousands of people in King’s Square, St. George’s.
* See this website for further updates and tomorrow's Royal Gazette for a four-page pull-out on the Royal visit.
