Queen Elizabeth Visits New York, UN Headquarters
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Date: 7/6/2010 10:09:57 AM
Sender: CDP
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Britain＇s Queen Elizabeth Visits New York, UN Headquarters
Britain＇s Queen Elizabeth arrives in New York City Tuesday on a whirlwind visit. The 84-year-old monarch will address the United Nations General Assembly and visit the site of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks to pay tribute to those killed.
Queen Elizabeth last visited New York in 1976, during the U.S. bicentennial celebrations. Much like this day, it was a hot July afternoon when she and her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, made their way up Wall Street in the city＇s financial district, greeting the throngs that lined the streets to greet them, including this reporter who was a little girl at the time!
Her latest visit will be much more subdued. The Queen will arrive Tuesday afternoon at the United Nations, where she has only visited once before - in 1957, some 12 years after the world body was established. With World War II not such a distant memory, she spoke about the United Nations＇ role in preserving peace between nations and the rights of peoples everywhere to live their lives in freedom and security.
British Ambassador to the United Nations, Mark Lyall Grant, told VOA that when the Queen visited the United Nations in 1957, there were only 77 member states, today there are 192.
"So there has been a huge expansion, obviously, of the organization since then," he noted. "She has known every single secretary-general since the beginning. Of course, she knows all the world leaders over the last 50 years. So when she speaks to the United Nations this afternoon, I think she will want to give one or two personal reflections on her knowledge and experience of the organization over the last 50 years, and also emphasize the importance of the challenges to come; celebrating some of the successes the U.N. has had, but highlighting the challenges to come."
While at the U.N., the Queen will lay a wreath for staff killed on duty. She will also have a meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and attend a reception that will include ambassadors from member states of the Commonwealth.
Afterwards, the royal couple will make their way back down to the city＇s financial district, blocks from where they visited Wall Street in 1976, to the site known as Ground Zero. Here, where the World Trade Center towers stood until terrorists brought them down on September 11th, 2001, the Queen will pay tribute to all those who died and meet some of their family members. She will also meet a group of policemen and firemen who were among the first responders that day.
Among the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, were 67 Britons. The Queen will inaugurate a special British garden in their memory. |
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