Queen Elizabeth II, who died aged 96 on Thursday at the Balmoral Castle in Scotland, cherished the “warmth and hospitality” she received during her three State Visits to the country throughout her reign – in 1961, 1983, and 1997. “The warmth and hospitality of the Indian people and the richness and diversity of India itself have been an inspiration to all of us,” she said in one of her addresses.
In 1961, the Queen and her husband, the late Prince Phillip – Duke of Edinburgh, traveled to Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata – then Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta – and also visited the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat in New Delhi.
They were Guests of Honour at the Republic Day Parade on the invitation of the then President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. She also addressed a massive crowd in an event hosted by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to welcome the royal couple in Ramlila Ground in 1961.
In 1983, she famously presented Mother Teresa with an honorary Order of the Merit. Her final visit to India was to mark the 50th-anniversary celebrations of India’s Independence in 1997. She and her husband later paid a visit to the location of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar to place a garland at the memorial.
Over the years, the Queen has also hosted three Indian presidents – Dr. Radhakrishnan in 1963, R. Venkataraman in 1990, and Pratibha Patil in 2009.
Her death comes just days after she appointed UK’s 15th Prime Minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, where she had been staying for her summer break. It marked a historic first for a British Prime Minister to not be called at Buckingham Palace in London. Her husband, Prince Philip, passed away aged 99 in April 2021.
