Continued from Part 1 yesterday….
I’ve been looking at the Queen Mother’s visit to Blantyre in May 1977 when she opened the Africa Pavilions at David Livingstone Centre. After the speeches were done, officials of the David Livingstone Trust proudly showed her around the new pavilion and the royal visitor then met pupils of David Livingstone Memorial Primary School who were dressed in African costumes.
Then she toured the museum, and not for the first time for she had opened the building in 1929 as a young woman. One item which caught her Majesty’s eye was the carved statue of Livingstone’s body being carried through the jungle by his faithful native stretcher bearers. She said she found it a very moving piece of work.
The it was off for tea in the new African Pavilion which must have been an unnerving experience with hundreds of children watching her every sip through the windows.
Then it was time to leave. As she signed the visitors book, an RAF helicopter landed , ready to escort her away. As the helicopter took off, the Queen Mother could be seen at the window waving to the crowds below.
Here’s a short video of these events courtesy of B Mathieson.
Hi Paul. George Green the Chair of the Trustees was a great personal family friend. My parents had a special invitation to the visit. George is the man in glasses with black striped tie beside the Queen Mother in the video. I have not “yet” spotted my parents. A little bit of inside knowledge. There were lots of prior meetings by the trustees to see everything ran like clockwork. George Green had learnt that the Queen Mother was “partial” to a qucumber sandwich. Sufficient to say my tea that night was qucumber sandwiches. The trustees made sure there were “plenty”! Or “over provision” as my father noted! There was a Post Office commemorative folder with stamps given out to invited guests as my parents received one.