In pictures: Queen Elizabeth II on tour
Queen Victoria may have ruled over 70 territories, but she never left Europe. In contrast, her great great granddaughter – the late Queen Elizabeth II – became the most well-travelled monarch in British history. Here we highlight some of the 265 official overseas visits of her globe-trotting reign
Canada and the United States, 1951
As her father King George VI’s health declined, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh took his place on a royal tour of Canada and Washington DC. In the United States, they were warmly received by President Harry S Truman, while enthusiastic crowds greeted her motorcade.
Australia, 1954
In 1954, the recently crowned Queen Elizabeth II made royal history by becoming the first reigning British monarch to visit Australia. She travelled to nearly 70 cities and towns in 58 days – the first of 16 tours she would undertake Down Under.
Malta, 1954
On her way back from Australia, the Queen travelled to Malta with Prince Charles and Princess Anne, where – among various other royal duties – she watched the Duke of Edinburgh play in a navy versus army polo match.
It was a poignant return to the island where she had lived as a newlywed between 1949 and 1951, and where she is said to have cherished the freedom of a relatively normal private life before her accession.
India, 1961
At the Ramlila Ground outside Old Delhi, upwards of 250,000 people gathered to hear the Queen speak. Although free from crown rule for more than a decade, India’s ties with Britain remained strong and there was a fervent response to the visit, with vast crowds greeting her throughout her six-week tour (which also took in Pakistan). The warm Indian welcome featured lavish banquets, elephant rides, horse racing and spectacular parades.
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New Zealand, 1970
An exhibition of Māori culture in Gisborne, North Island (see below), was one highlight at the beginning of what proved to be the Queen’s most-travelled decade. It was this tour that saw the first ever royal ‘walkabouts’, when the monarch broke away from formal arrangements to walk among the crowds, chatting and accepting bouquets. They subsequently became a fixture of almost all royal visits from that point onwards.
Hong Kong, 1975
This was the first of just two visits made by the monarch to the British colony on the southern coast of China. In 1997, Prince Charles would later read a farewell speech on the Queen’s behalf, as sovereignty of Hong Kong was handed to China.
South Pacific, 1982
Traditional canoes brought the Queen ashore from HMY Britannia to the remote Funafuti atoll of Tuvalu. Her island-hopping itinerary also took in the other Commonwealth realms of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Kiribati and Fiji.
France, 1992
Accompanied by President François Mitterrand, the Queen spoke French throughout her four-day tour of Paris, Blois and Bordeaux – although she remained diplomatically quiet on the arguments raging around the Maastricht Treaty and European unity.
Malaysia, 1998
Mass protests against the long-standing Barisan Nasional government coincided with the monarch’s arrival in Malaysia for the 1998 Commonwealth Games. The visit – including a “courtesy call” with the country’s prime minister – continued despite the angry clashes.
Canada, 2002
The Queen wrapped up her golden jubilee year with a visit to the newest territory in her realm, Nunavut. Carrying on a tradition of royal trips to Canada dating back to Prince William (later William IV) in the 18th century, she would end up visiting the country a total of 22 times.
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Nigeria, 2003
In her first visit since 1956 (four years before the country attained independence from Britain), and amid concerns of a possible al-Qaeda attack, the Queen’s contact with ordinary Nigerians was limited to meeting actors at a mock-up market created for a BBC soap opera.
United States, 2007
In 2007, the Queen paid her final state visit to the US. Highlights included a trip to Nasa’s Goddard Space Center in Maryland, where astronauts Sunita Williams, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov spoke to the monarch on a live link from the International Space Station.
Uganda, 2007
Amid security fears, the Queen visited Uganda for the first time since the days of colonial rule. Independent since 1962, the country was nonetheless rapturous in its welcome, with half a million people thronging the roadsides as the monarch visited a centre for Aids orphans and opened the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Slovakia, 2008
In 2008, the Queen and Prince Philip were escorted on a two-day tour of Slovakia by President Ivan Gašparovič. It was the first ever royal visit to the country, which split from the former Czechoslovakia in 1993. At a banquet in her honour, the Queen spoke of Slovakia’s troubled past: “Caught behind a line dividing east from west for so long, Slovakia has now asserted its place in a common European home in less turbulent times.”
Germany, 2015
The Queen’s 2015 tour of Germany was an emotional affair. As well as laying a wreath at Berlin’s Neue Wache memorial, she visited Bergen-Belsen, the former Nazi concentration camp where approximately 50,000 prisoners died.
Speaking at an official state dinner attended by British prime minister David Cameron and German chancellor Angela Merkel, she reflected: “In our lives, we have seen the worst but also the best of our continent.”
After 2015, the Queen did not travel abroad, leaving such visits to her children and grandchildren. Her final overseas trip came in November of that year, when she and Prince Philip travelled to Malta ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
An older version of this article was published in BBC History Magazine’s ‘Queen Elizabeth: 90 Glorious Years’ bookazine