As Princess Elizabeth, the Queen performed her first ever opening ceremony in Aberdeen.
It was October 1944 and the 18-year-old princess was accompanied by her mother, Queen Elizabeth, on a visit to the Torry nursery school and Grandholm Works in the morning.
In the afternoon, they visited Woodend Hospital and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Then on to the Aberdeen Sailor’s Home on Mearns Street, which had had a new wing built.
It was noted that Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, helped a little boy who was finding it difficult to eat shepherd’s pie and cabbage with a spoon.
Princess Elizabeth’s early Aberdeen visits
Princess Elizabeth gave an extraordinarily mature speech, the shape of things to come during her long reign as Queen.
She said: “This splendid building has been brought up to date through the enterprise of the British Sailors’ Society which has done so much for the welfare of seamen.
“I am glad to think that Aberdeen, the seaport of north-east Scotland, so famous for its fishing and its trade in peace-time, will have such a beautiful home, and one worthy of the men who go down to the sea in ships- the men upon whom our very existence depends.
“I have every confidence that this building will be greatly appreciated by the sailors who come here, and it is good to know that when they are ashore, after perhaps long and dangerous days at sea, they will find here care and comfort and a kindly welcome.
“I congratulate the society most heartily on yet another splendid piece of work.”
Two years later, in 1946, Princess Elizabeth visited Aberdeen once again, this time to attend the Girl Guides Rally at the Music Hall.
She is met here by Lord Provost Sir Thomas Mitchell.
Next official visit in 1955
Princess Elizabeth’s next official engagement in Aberdeen would come 11 years later as Queen, in 1955.
She arrived with the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Anne aboard the Royal yacht, Britannia.
The children didn’t take part in the tour, heading instead to Balmoral with their nurse.
The Lord Provost, George Stephen welcomed them at the deep water wharf in Commercial Quay.
This was Britannia’s first trip to Aberdeen, following a successful cruise round the Western Isles.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh made three official calls in the morning, to Broadfield Works; the mother and baby unit of the Sick Children’s Hospital and the new St Nicholas Church at Kincorth, where they planted a tree each in the grounds.
Then the city’s 24,000 school children aged seven and upward lined the streets at vantage points as the Royal couple headed for the Town House for a civic luncheon.
After that, by car to Balmoral for the traditional well-earned break.
Queen’s Aberdeen hospital visits
More recently, Her Majesty returned to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary to open the Emergency Care Centre in 2013.
Here Dr Jeremy Richardson shows here the equipment used by paramedics.
Four years later, the Queen again visited the ARI, this time to open the Robertson Family Roof Garden.
She met health board staff and patients, and ambassadors of the garden including former Scotland football manager Craig Brown.
He said: “It was really a great honour that Her Majesty chose to come to open the roof garden, and recognises the courage of NHS Grampian to try the idea.
“It also highlights all of the support we have received from organisations and communities – everybody who gifted the money we needed to allow the garden to be created.
“I think the Queen felt it was a very lovely and appropriate space to enable some of our most severely ill patients to be taken outside with full ventilation.”
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