Queen Elizabeth II has launched her fifteen-week Golden Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom with a stop in the Cornish town of Falmouth. Crowds lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the monarch, who was accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, as her arrival for the two-day visit to the West Country kicked off with a 21-gun royal salute.
First up was a tour of the new £22 million National Maritime Museum, where the royal couple viewed an exhibit featuring Bluebottle, a yacht the Island Sailing Club of Cowes gave them for their wedding in 1948.
The Queen then travelled to Falmouth Harbour, taking time to name a new lifeboat, the Robert Cox Scott, and meet the vessel’s crew. Later, she and the Duke of Edinburgh embarked on a breezy tour of the harbour, with the Queen at the helm of the newly-named lifeboat. As their boat passed two other ships, the HMS Cornwall and the Prince William, the royal couple were greeted with cheers from the crews.
Her Majesty’s trip highlights the region’s farming and tourism industries, which were hit hard by the foot and mouth outbreak last year. The first leg of the Golden Jubilee tour will continue on Thursday, with scheduled visits to Wells, the farmers’ market and Vivary Park in Taunton and the Pump Rooms in Bath.
Next on the Queen’s schedule for May is a visit to Tyne and Wear and Durham May 7-8, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire on May 10, and a week in Scotland, May 23-29.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
