The death of the Queen has prompted some schools to look back though their archives and reminisce about the times during her 70 year reign that she paid them a visit.
Here we highlight a few of the best, starting with a visit to Benenden School in 1963, when the Queen dropped off her daughter Princess Anne, who was starting in school for the first time after being homeschooled.
In 1957, the Queen paid a visit to Repton School in Derbyshire, as they celebrated their 400th anniversary. It is good to see that even then, every pupil seemed to want to take a photo of the royal guests. The same year, she also made her way to Harrow where the newsreader speculated if it might be the school for Prince Charles – who in fact ended up at Gordonstoun.
In 1965, the Queen made a memorable visit to Manchester Grammar School, and this somewhat grainy footage recorded the day. The school captain, Stephen Schaefer, recalled that the huge preparations for every detail of the visit left him and colleagues “ashen and exhausted”. One boy also recalled that everyone was served three courses instead of two in the refectory, even though it was supposed to be “a normal school dinner”.
Radley College has had two visits, (click here to view) including one in 1947 from a young Princess Elizabeth and later in 1997 when the Queen visited with the Duke of Edinburgh. The warden, the late Richard Morgan, succeeded in the impressive feat of making her chuckle with a joke about the school’s financial management. “Many of the staff who feature in the film still work at Radley today and their memories of Her Majesty’s visit are vivid and lasting,” a spokesman for the school told SMP.
Elsewhere, this footage depicts the Queen visiting Winchester College in 1955 as a part of a wider visit to the city.
And finally, here is a news report of the Queen’s visit to her realm’s most famous public school, Eton College, from her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. She was given a very hearty three cheers from the boys.
Do you have any memories or footage of the Queen visiting your school? Please get in touch with us at editor@schoolmanagementplus.com.
