WDBJ7 Archive: Royal visits to Virginia

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla are sceduled to spend time in Virginia during their U.S. visit this week.

It won’t be the first time members of the Royal Family have come to the Old Dominion.

When Queen Elizabeth II landed in Newport News in October 1957, it was the first stop on her first state visit to the U. S.

She came to commemorate the 350^th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. The Queen and Prince Philip spent time in Williamsburg as well.

She was back in the Commonwealth during the nation’s bicentennial.

20,000 people joined the Queen on the Lawn of the University of Virginia on July 10,1976. There, she paid tribute to Thomas Jefferson.

“It is a moving experience to stand here amidst the beauty he created and reflect that it was for this that he wished to be remembered rather than his authorship of the Declaration of independence, a document that changed the course of history,” Queen Elizabeth said during her remarks at the ceremony.

She would join Governor Mills Godwin and 100 invited guests for lunch in the UVA Rotunda before touring Monticello, Jefferson’s mountaintop home.

Cheers rose from the crowd in Capitol Square on May 3, 2007, when Queen Elizabeth stepped from the Executive Mansion with then Governor Tim Kaine.

Back in Virginia for the 400^th anniversary of Jamestown, she set off on a walkabout, accepting gifts and sharing words with the crowd that had gathered to greet her.

Her visit came just a few weeks after the Virginia Tech tragedy.

“On behalf of the people of the United Kingdom, I extend my deepest sympathies at this time of such grief and sorrow.”

She consoled the Virginia Tech community in her remarks to a joint session of the General Assembly. And she met with students and families of the victims.

She also spoke of the enduring friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

“It means being able to debate openly, disagree on occasion, surmount both good times and bad, safe in the knowledge that the bonds that draw us together of history, understanding and warm regard are far stronger than any temporary differences of opinion,” the Queen said in her speech.

From Richmond, the Queen travelled to Jamestown Settlement, where Vice President Dick Cheney provided the escort and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor delivered remarks.

“One thing has remained constant in the last 50 years,” O’Connor said, “the special relationship that exits between Great Britain and the United States of America.”

The day also offered echoes of the Queen’s visit 50 years earlier at the College of William and Mary.

And at other Williamsburg locations, where hundreds of people gathered for a glimpse of the British monarch, then declared it a once-in-a lifetime opportunity worthy of the wait.

Few details about the King’s visit to Virginia have been released, but Buckingham Palace has said it will include a stop at a national park, a block party celebrating America’s 250^th birthday and performances involving Appalachian cultural groups. Charles is expected to meet with a group of native Americans, while Camilla will visit a horse farm tied to the racing industry.

They arrive in Washington on April 27^th.