February 2007: Holland* – Queen Beatrix
May 2007: United States – President George W. Bush
May 2008: Turkey – President Gül
October 2008: Slovenia – President Türk
October 2008: Slovakia – President Gašparovič
November 2010: United Arab Emirates – Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan
November 2010: Oman – Sultan Qaboos
May 2011: Ireland – President McAleese
April 2014: Italy* – President Napolitano
April 2014: The Vatican* – Pope Francis
June 2014: France – President Hollande
June 2015: Germany – President Gauck
* Organised as an official or royal visit, rather than a full state visit
List compiled from Royal Household and other sources.
STATE VISITS RECEIVED BY THE QUEEN SINCE 1952
June 1954: Sweden – King Gustaf VI Adolf and Queen Louise
October 1954: Ethiopia – Emperor Haile Selassie
October 1955: Portugal – President Francisco Craveiro Lopes and Madame Craveiro Lopes
July 1956: Iraq – King Faisal II
May 1958: Italy – President Giovanni Gronchi and Signora Gronchi
October 1958: Germany – President Theodor Heuss
May 1959: Iran – Shahanshah Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi
April 1960: France – President Charles de Gaulle and Madame de Gaulle
July 1960: Thailand – King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit
October 1960: Nepal – King Mahendra and Queen Ratna
July 1962: Liberia – President William Tubman and Mrs. Tubman
October 1962: Norway – King Olav V
May 1963: Belgium – King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola
June 1963: India – President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
July 1963: Greece – King Paul I and Queen Frederica
May 1964: Sudan – President Ferik Ibrahim Abboud
July 1965: Chile – President Frei Montalva and Señora de Frei
May 1966: Austria – Federal President Franz Jonas and Frau Jonas
July 1966: Jordan – King Hussein
November 1966: Pakistan – President Ayub Khan
May 1967: Saudi Arabia – King Faisal
November 1967: Turkey – President Cevdet Sunay and Madame Sunay
April 1969: Italy – President Saragat and Signora Santacatterina
July 1969: Finland – President Urho Kekkonen and Madame Kekkonen
October 1971: Japan – Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako
December 1971: Afghanistan – King Mohammed Zahir Shah, Princess Bilqis and General Sardar Abdul Wali
June 1972: The Netherlands – Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard
June 1972: Luxembourg – Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine Charlotte
October 1972: Germany – President Gustav Heinemann and Frau Heinemann
April 1973: Mexico – President Luis Echeverría and Señora de Echeverría
June 1973: Nigeria – Head of the Federal Military Government General Yakubu Gowon and Mrs. Gowon
December 1973: Zaire – President Mobuto Sese Seko and Madame Mobutu
April1974: Denmark – Queen Margrethe II and Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
July 1974: Malaysia – The Yang di-Pertuan Agong and The Raja Permaisuri Agong
July 1975: Sweden – King Carl XVI Gustaf
November 1975: Tanzania – President Nyerere
May 1976: Brazil – President Ernesto Geisel and Senhora Geisel
June 1976: France – President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and Madame d’Estaing
June 1978: Romania – President Nicolae Ceauşescu and Madame Ceauşescu
November 1978: Portugal – President António Eanes and Senhora Eanes
June 1979: Kenya – President Daniel Arap Moi
November 1979: Indonesia – President Suharto and Madame Tien Soeharto
November 1980: Nepal – King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya
March 1981: Nigeria – President Shehu Shagari
June 1981: Saudi Arabia – King Khalid
March 1982: Oman – Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said
June 1982: USA – President and Mrs Reagan*
November 1982: The Netherlands – Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus
March 1983: Zambia – President Kenneth Kaunda and Mrs. Kaunda
April 1984: Bahrain – Emir Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
October 1984: France – President François Mitterand and Madame Mitterand
April 1985: Malawi – Life President Hastings Banda
June 1985: Mexico – President Miguel de la Madrid and Señora de la Madrid
November 1985: Qatar – Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani
April 1986: Spain – King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia
July 1986: Germany – President Richard von Weizsäcker and Freifrau von Weizsäcker
March 1987: Saudi Arabia – King Fahd
July 1987: Morocco – King Hassan II
April 1988: Norway – King Olav V
July 1988: Turkey – President Kenan Evren
November 1988: Senegal – President Abdou Diouf and Madame Diouf
May 1989: Nigeria – President Babandiga and Mrs. Babangida
July 1989: UAE – President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
April 1990: India – President Ramaswamy Venkataraman and Shri Venkataraman
October 1990: Italy – President Francesco Cossiga
April 1991: Poland – President Lech Walesa and Mrs. Walesa
July 1991: Egypt – President Hosni Mubarak and Mrs. Mubarak
November 1992: Brunei Darussalam – The Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam and The Raja lsteri
April 1993: Portugal – President Mário Soares and Senhora Soares
November 1993: Malaysia – The Yang di-Pertuan Agong and The Raja Permaisuri Agong
May 1994: Zimbabwe – President Robert Mugabe
July 1994: Norway – King Harald V and Queen Sonja
May 1995: Kuwait – Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Sabah
October 1995: Finland – President Martti Ahtisaari and Madame Ahtisaari
May 1996: France – President Jacques Chirac and Madame Chirac
July 1996: South Africa – President Nelson Mandela
February 1997: Israel – President Ezer Weizman and Mrs. Weizman
December 1997: Brazil – President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Senhora Cardoso
May 1998: Japan – Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko
December 1998: Germany – President Roman Herzog and Frau Herzog
June 1999: Hungary – President Árpád Göncz and Mrs. Göncz
October 1999: China – President Jiang Zemin and Madame Wang Yeping
February 2000: Denmark – Queen Margrethe II and Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
June 2001: South Africa – President Thabo Mbeki and Mrs. Mbeki
November 2001: Jordan – King Abdullah II and Queen Rania
June 2003: Russia – President Vladimir Putin and Mrs. Putina
November 2003: USA – President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush
May 2004: Poland – President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Mrs. Kwaśniewska
November 2004: France** – President Jacques Chirac and Mrs Chirac
December 2004: South Korea – President Roh Moo-hyun and Mrs. Roh Moo-hyun
March 2005: Italy – President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Signora Ciampi
October 2005: Norway* – King Harald V and Queen Sonja
November 2005: China – President Hu Jintao and Madame Liu Yongqing
March 2006: Brazil – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senhora Lula da Silva
March 2007: Ghana – President John Kufuor and Mrs. Kufuor
October 2007: Saudi Arabia – King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
March 2008: France – President Nicolas Sarkozy and Madame Sarkozy
&n
bsp; March 2009: Mexico – President Felipe Calderón and Señora Zavala
October 2009: India – President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Dr. Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat
March 2010: South Africa – President Jacob Zuma and Mrs. Zuma
September 2010: The Vatican*** – Pope Benedict XVI
November 2010: Qatar – Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned
May 2011: USA – President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama
November 2011: Turkey – President Abdullah Gül and Mrs. Gül
October 2012: Indonesia – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Mrs. Yudohoyono
November 2012: Kuwait – Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah
April 2013: UAE – Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan
November 2013: South Korea – President Park Geun-hye
April 2014: Ireland – President Michael D. Higgins and Mrs. Sabina Higgins
October 2014: Singapore – President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Mrs. Tan Keng Yam
March 2015: Mexico – President Enrique Peña Nieto and Señora Angélica Rivera de Peña
October 2015: China – President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan
November 2016: Colombia – President Juan Manuel Santos de Calderon
July 2017: Spain – King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia
* Official visit with a state banquet
** Official visit with a state banquet to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale
*** Papal visit with status of a state visit
Compiled from Royal Household list and other sources.
SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Royal Archives
With the permission of Her Majesty The Queen, I have been granted access to the Royal Archives to view the unpublished official Tour Diary (Volumes I and II) of the 1947 Tour of South Africa (F&V/VISOV/SA/1947); selected speeches of His Majesty King George VI; and royal records relating to state banquets.
The National Archives
I have used the Open Government Licence to quote extensively from files held by The National Archives (TNA) and originating from the following departments:
The Prime Minister’s Office (PREM)
The Cabinet Office (CAB)
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)
The Commonwealth Relations Office (DO)
The Foreign Office (FO)
The Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge
I have used material from the papers of Sir Alan Lascelles and from a memoir by Sir Roger du Boulay. I have also consulted the papers of Lord Soames.
The British Diplomatic History Programme
Also housed at the Churchill Archives Centre, this extensive collection of interviews with former diplomats includes material relating to many state and royal tours throughout the reign.
The Commonwealth Secretariat Archives
I have used material from internal memos, correspondence, cuttings, journals and books kept at Marlborough House.
Private Archives
I am most grateful to many of my interviewees for allowing me to see their own memoirs, diaries, scrapbooks, letters, cuttings and souvenirs of so many royal tours. Collectively they have been invaluable in conveying the scale of these royal expeditions and the depth of the affection for the Queen globally.
Additionally, I have consulted many official publications, including Hansard and The Gazette. I am also grateful to the editors of Round Table, the in-house journal of the Commonwealth. As important as any official source is what the press have had to say. Most royal stories from the early Nineties onwards are well documented online and in databases. For a full account of the first forty years of the Queen’s reign, however, nothing matches traditional newspaper cuttings, and I have greatly enjoyed rummaging through piles of them, courtesy of the Daily Mail’s Reference Library and its excellent team of librarians. Throughout this book I have also drawn on my own notes, cuttings and files from the eighty-four royal visits to sixty-six countries and territories that I have covered as a journalist in the twenty-five years between 1992 and 2017.
All interviewees have been quoted and attributed directly, except for those who have requested anonymity. I have also drawn on the following books, which I commend to anyone examining the international role of the most-travelled monarch in history.
Allison, Ronald and Riddell, Sarah, The Royal Encyclopaedia (Macmillan, 1991)
Anderson, Ian and Ruimy, Joel, Leadership in the Making: 50 Years of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences (Temple Scott, 2006)
Anyaoku, Emeka, The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth (Evans Brothers, 2004)
Bain, K. R., The official record of the royal visit to Tonga: 19th–20th December, 1953 (Pitkin, 1954)
Bedell Smith, Sally, Elizabeth The Queen (Penguin, 2012)
Bradford, Sarah, Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen (William Heinemann, 1996)
—— George VI (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989)
Brandreth, Gyles, Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage (Century, 2004)
Connors, Jane Holley, The Glittering Thread (University of Technology, Sydney, 1996)
De Guitaut, Caroline, The Royal Tour (Royal Collection Enterprises, 2009)
Devon, Stanley, The Royal Canadian Tour: The Complete Pictorial Story (Pitkin, 1951)
Dimbleby, Jonathan, The Prince of Wales: A Biography (Little, Brown, 1994)
Fletcher, Tom, The Naked Diplomat: Understanding Power and Politics in the Digital Age (William Collins, 2016)
Goodsir, Sally, Royal Gifts (Royal Collection Trust, 2017)
Hardman, Robert, Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work (Ebury, 2007)
—— Our Queen (Hutchinson, 2011)
Heald, Tim, The Duke: A Portrait of Prince Philip (Hodder & Stoughton, 1991)
Howell, David, The Commonwealth Transformed (Book Printing UK, 2018)
—— Old Links and New Ties: Power and Persuasion in an Age of Networks (I. B. Tauris, 2013)
Jay, Antony, Elizabeth R (BBC Books, 1992)
Jephson, Patrick, Shadows of a Princess (HarperCollins, 2000)
Johnstone-Bryden, Richard, The Royal Yacht Britannia: The Official History (Conway Maritime Press, 2003)
Junor, Penny, The Firm (HarperCollins 2011)
Kielinger, Thomas, Elizabeth II (Verlag C. H. Beck, 2011)
La Grange, Zelda, Good Morning, Mr Mandela (Penguin, 2014)
Lacey, Robert, Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Little, Brown, 2002)
Lascelles, Sir Alan (edited by Duff Hart-Davis), King’s Counsellor: Abdication and War (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006)
Longworth, Philip, The Unending Vigil: The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (Pen & Sword Books, 2010)
McDonald, Sir Trevor with Tiffin, Peter, The Queen and the Commonwealth (Methuen, 1986)
McKinnon, Don, In the Ring: A Commonwealth Memoir (Elliott & Thompson, 2013)
Moore, Charles, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography. Volume One, Not For Turning (Allen Lane, 2013)
—— Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography. Volume Two, Everything She Wants (Allen Lane, 2015)
Murphy, Professor Philip, Monarchy and the End of Empire (Oxford University Press, 2013)
Oliver, Brian, The Commonwealth Games: Extraordinary Stories behind the Medals (Bloomsbury Sport, 2014)
Owen, David, Time to Declare (Michael Joseph, 1991)
Pimlott, Ben, The Queen (HarperCollins, 1996)
Ramphal, Shridath, Glimpses of a Global Life (Hansib Publications, 2014)
—— One World to Share (Hutchinson, 1979)
Roberts, Andrew, The House of Windsor (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000)
—— The Royal House of Windsor (Kindle edition, 2011)
Roche, Marc, Elizabeth II: Une Vie, un règne (Tallandier, 2016)
Rose, Kenneth, Kings, Queens and Courtiers (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1985)
Sebag Montefiore, Simon,
The Romanovs (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016)
Shawcross, William, Queen and Country (BBC Books, 2002)
—— Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother (Macmillan, 2009)
Smith, Arnold, Stitches in Time: The Commonwealth in World Politics (General Publishing, 1981)
Thomas, Wynford Vaughan, Royal Tour, 1953–4 (Hutchinson, 1954)
Turner, Graham, Elizabeth: The Woman and the Queen (Macmillan, 2002)
Vickers, Hugo, Elizabeth, The Queen Mother (Hutchinson, 2005)
Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John, King George VI : His Life and Reign (Macmillan, 1958)
Wright, Patrick R. H., Behind Diplomatic Lines: Relations with Ministers (Biteback, 2018)
PICTURE PERMISSIONS
Picture section 1
1. Getty / Topical Press Agency
2. Getty / Rolls Press / Popperfoto
3. Getty / Paul Popper / Popperfoto
4. Getty / Fox Photos
5. Getty / Paul Popper / Popperfoto
6. Getty / Dmitri Kessel
7. Getty / Popperfoto
8. Getty / Fox Photos
9. Getty / Paul Popper / Popperfoto
10. Getty / Hulton Archive
11. Getty / Paul Popper / Popperfoto
12. Getty / Popperfoto
13. Getty / Bettmann
14. Getty / Hank Walker
15. Getty / Popperfoto
16. Getty / Popperfoto
17. Getty / Paul Schutzer
18. Getty / Rolls Press / Popperfoto
Picture section 2
1. Getty / Hulton Archive
2. Getty / Rolls Press / Popperfoto
3. Getty / DEUTSCH Jean-Claude
4. Getty / AFP
5. Getty / Doug Griffin
6. Getty / Keystone
7. Getty / Anwar Hussein
8. Getty / Fox Photos
9. Getty / Anwar Hussein
10. Getty / Popperfoto
11. Getty / Anwar Hussein
12. Getty / Anwar Hussein
13. Getty / William Campbell
14. Getty / Tim Graham
15. Getty / Georges De Keerle
16. Getty / Ronald Reagan Library
17. Getty / Anwar Hussein
18. Getty / Hulton Archive
19. Getty / AFP
Picture section 3
1. Getty / Tim Graham
2. Getty / Tim Graham
Queen of the World: Elizabeth II: Sovereign and Stateswoman Page 68
