Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died Thursday at the age of 96. As the world remembers her 70-year reign, the W&M News is taking a look back at her visits to William & Mary and connection to the university.
Queen Elizabeth II (third from left) on the balcony of the Wren Building during her 1957 visit to campus with her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Photo by International News PhotosDuring a visit to campus in 2007, Queen Elizabeth II was greeted by thousands. Many, like this young girl, bearing flowers.Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh leave the President’s House at William & Mary during their 1957 visit to campus. Photo by Thomas WilliamsQueen Elizabeth II (r) and then Chancellor and former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor speak at the President’s House during Her Majesty’s 2007 visit to William & Mary. Photo by Stephen SalpukasQueen Elizabeth II (r) and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh of Great Britain during their 1957 visit to William & Mary. Photo by Chiles T.A. LarsonQueen Elizabeth II (c) waves to a large crowd from the balcony of William & Mary’s Wren Building during her 2007 visit to campus. Photo by Stephen SalpukasQueen Elizabeth II met with a William & Mary delegation of 300, led by then President Timothy Sullivan, at a special reception in Drapers’ Hall in London in 1993 as part of the university’s Tercentenary observance. Photo by C. James Gleason
On Oct. 16, 1957, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited the Historic Triangle as part of the 350th anniversary of the landing at Jamestown. They had tea at the President’s House, spoke from the balcony of the Wren Building to a crowd of roughly 20,000 people and accepted gifts from the university, according to Swem Library records.
Fifty years later Queen Elizabeth II visited the campus on May 4, 2007, while she was in Virginia to help commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. She was made an honorary member of the W&M Class of 2007, greeted more than 7,000 people from the balcony of the Wren Building and rang the Wren bell.
