The Queen's official visits to Hillingdon

During her reign Her Majesty the Queen made several official visits to Hillingdon.

The following timeline highlights those visits, as well as important events throughout her 70-year reign.

21 April 1926
Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in Mayfair at 02.40am.

 

1941
Princess Elizabeth visited the Battle of Britain Bunker with her father King George VI and her sister Princess Margaret. They sat in the royal box. This was a private viewing so unfortunately there are no photographs that we know of.

 

20 November 1947
The wedding of Princess Elizabeth Windsor and Prince Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey.

 

14 November 1948
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip welcomed their first child, Prince Charles Philip Arthur George.

 

15 August 1950
Their only daughter Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise born.

 

7 February 1952
King George VI died on 6 February. Princess Elizabeth, visiting Kenya at the time, arrived back at Heathrow Airport. She landed at 4.19pm in a BOAC Argonaut from Entebbe.

 

1953
Coronation: Princess Elizabeth was crowned Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on 2 June.

 

1955
The Queen opened the Queen's Building and Control Tower at London airport on 16 December.#

 

1957
The Queen and Prince Philip visited Canada, in her first official visit as Queen.

 

19 February 1960
Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward born.
 

10 March 1964

Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis born.

 

17 April 1969
The Queen opened the new Terminal 1 at Heathrow.

 

1971
The Queen and Princess Anne visited British Columbia to celebrate the the Canadian Confederation.

 

1976
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne visited Montreal to open, attend and (in Princess Anne's case) participate in the Summer Olympics.
 

1977
EMI Records, in Hayes, produced a 'commemorative etched vinyl,' given to all its employees. There were also many Silver Jubilee street parties across the borough to celebrate the Queen's 25 year reign.

 

20 March 1986
The Queen's cousin, the Duchess of Kent visited Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood. She openedthe new Paul Strickland Scanner Centre.

 

8 February 1994

The Queen opened the Princess Christian Unit at Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood.

 

25 June 2002
As part of her Golden Jubilee tour of Britain, the Queen visited Uxbridge. She unveiled the statue "Anticipation" by sculptor Anita Laffen and watched performances by local youth arts groups before walking along the High Street and meeting the public.

 

9 May 2006
The Queen paid a long visit to Hillingdon. In the morning she officially opened the Hillingdon House Farm athletics complex and presented medals to young athletes. She then had lunch at Brunel University and opened the new health centre. In the afternoon, she visited the One Stop Shop in Hayes and watched a performance by a choir and theatre group before walking along Station Road to meet the public.

 

14 March 2008

The Queen officially opened Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5.

 

31 March 2010

RAF Uxbridge was closed. The Queen sent a condolence message in February when she heard of the closure.

 

2012

Gates were designed and made for Eastcote House Gardens to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. They were officially opened in June by the Mayor of Hillingdon.

 

24 June 2014

Heathrow Terminal 2 reopened as "The Queen's Terminal".

 

2016

Boris Johnson visited the Once Upon a Time day nursery in Uxbridge to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday.

 

2017

Her Majesty celebrated 65 years as Queen. She was the first British monarch to reach a Sapphire Jubilee milestone.

 

2019

The Queen visited Heathrow to mark the 100th anniversary of British Airways.

 

2022

Her Majesty celebrated 70 years as Queen and was the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

Page last updated: 22 Sep 2022