Queen Elizabeth II made at least seven visits to South Buckinghamshire during her life, the first when she was just seven years old and the last when she was 76 years of age. Here we tell the story of each visit and hear the memories of those who remember some of the visits.

Bekonscot model village 
It is believed that as a child Queen Elizabeth made a number of visits to see the Bekonscot miniature village. and she even brought her own children after her coronation. 

The first recorded royal visit was no doubt intended as a birthday treat. It was on the eve of her eighth birthday, April 20, 1934, when Princess Elizabeth went to the model village in Beaconsfield with Queen Mary.

She was obviously so impressed that she returned several times over the next few years together her sister Princess Margaret, Queen Mary and the King.

Her first visit lasted an hour and must have been very informal as she seems to have been accompanied by a reporter from the Bucks Free Press (BFP) who was able to watch her at close quarters. 

The reporter commented: “Princess Elizabeth has individuality to a great degree.

She thinks of things which one might not expect from a little lady who is only just reaching her eighth birthday. As she wandered here and there along the tiny streets and byways of Bekonscot she proved herself remarkably alert.”

The report continued “Varying expressions crossed her lovely little face. Princess Elizabeth was delighted, as any child would be. She was solicitous of the welfare of the tiny people: she studied conditions, and her love went out to them all.”     
Drive-through Amersham and Chesham

When dawn broke on the morning of Friday, July 25th 1952, the excitement began to mount in Amersham and Chesham.

A few days before it had been announced that Her Majesty the Queen would present a flag called the Queen’s Colour to No 1 School of Technical Training at Halton, near Aylesbury.  

A route was announced in local newspapers which gave the scheduled times of arrival at different locations as the Queen passed through on her way to Aylesbury. 

At each place on the route the streets were lined with flags and bunting, and schoolchildren lined the roads near their schools, many waving flags.  

Elderly people took their place sitting on kitchen chairs, deckchairs and camping stools.

Office workers and shop workers came outside their places of employment and chatted whilst they waited for the car to drive by.

People only got a brief glimpse of the Queen smiling and waving, but many felt it was worth it, and remember it to this day.

Leaving Windsor Castle, the Queen was driven in a Rolls-Royce though Beaconsfield and then went down Gore Hill to arrive in Amersham Old Town at 10.15 am, before driving up Station Road and through Amersham-on-the-Hill, where Rita Mason remembers seeing her.  

The car continued to Chesham, arriving at about 10.25am. In the town the route went along Red Lion Street, where Eleanor Phillips, aged nine, recalls standing and waiting for the car to watch it drive past.  

The journey continued along the High Street and the Broadway, where Ian Bateman and Susan Vockins remember seeing her, and along Broad Street where Hilary Povey was standing on the pavement as the car drove by.

The route went down Berkhampstead Road, where children of Newtown School lined the road, with Jim Cargill and Linda Brown having a good view.

Keith Fletcher recalled: “I was waiting for her in Berkhampstead Road.

As we looked towards the town we saw the crowd had all started waving and cheering. We thought here she comes, but no it was a farmer on a tractor. Having a bit of a laugh I think!” 

Harrisons stamp factory
In what was the first time she came to High Wycombe, and no doubt anxious to see how the production of the new postage stamps commemorating her forthcoming coronation was progressing, the Queen paid a visit to the Harrison stamp factory in Hughenden Avenue on November 10, 1952. 

As the BFP reported “Driving through the flag-decked streets which were lined by enthusiastic townspeople and schoolchildren the Queen visited the printing works, where in the course of an hour’s tour of the factory she saw two machines printing the new design of postage stamps bearing her image.”

She was accompanied by the Postmaster General and wearing a cherry-red coat with black velvet edged pockets and a triple row of pearls, and ”by her natural charm and ready smile, she captivated all hearts”.

The Queen made a second visit to Harrisons on May 30, 1972 - this time she was accompanied by Prince Philip and their sons Princes Andrew and Edward.

Tour of South Buckinghamshire

Ten years later, on Friday April 6, 1962, Her Majesty embarked on a tour of South Bucks. Dressed in a resplendent red coat and a fashionable, matching, red ruffled-net hat the young queen was driven through Marlow to High Wycombe, arriving just after 10am, where she was greeted by local dignitaries.

An exhibition celebrating Wycombe’s furniture manufacturing heritage had been arranged in the town hall, which the Queen entered through the traditional arch of chairs.

Her Majesty was then driven up Amersham Hill to the Royal Grammar School, where she formally opened a new science block and spoke to boys at the school, and also the cook Mrs Daisy Hunt. 

The Queen’s convoy then proceeded to Aylesbury, where her visit included a tour of two neighbouring council houses on the Gatehouse Estate in Oxford Road by the proud occupants Mrs Iris Powell and Mr and Mrs Coyde.

Brian Coyde, who still lives in the same house, told how friendly and confident the Queen was whilst they were showing her all over the house.

He said: “I shook hands with her and invited her around the house. She wanted to see all the house, the whole thing. She went upstairs and had a look at the bedrooms. 
She asked me ‘if I do any decorating’. We had a little chat, she asked me what I do for a living. She was very easy to speak to and pleasant. She looked you straight in the eye when she talked to you.”

The centre of Aylesbury was packed with people waving Union Flags, keen to get a close look at the royal visitor as she strolled round Market Square and inspected the Guard of Honour from RAF Halton.

The Powells and the Coydes were then invited to join the Queen at Grange Secondary School for lunch, where around 200 guests ‘from all walks of life’ were entertained by the Royal Artillery Orchestra. 

The convoy then left Aylesbury to drive to Slough, passing through Great Missenden and Amersham. There hundreds of local schoolchildren were eagerly awaiting her drive through and were lining the route to catch a glimpse of the Queen.

Strangely, Amersham Council had decided not to spend money for decorations on Amersham High Street.

t was stated that “Her Majesty will only be passing through and that schoolchildren will be lining the route in any case!"

On the day itself the owners of the Broadway Newsagents took pity on the pupils of St George’s, whose headmistress had banned them from taking any flags on the walk down to the Old Town.

The owner of the newsagents, Mrs Church, handed out all her remaining flags to the pupils after spotting “a long row of children standing sadly by the kerbside”.
“Then came the moment for the Queen’s arrival.

Excitement mounted as people craned their necks in anticipation of this wonderful occasion.

A brick lorry was driven through seconds before the Queen was due to arrive. Two police cars, with loudspeakers blaring, immediately gave chase and the driver was stopped.

Then a 353 Windsor bus pulled out of the Amersham Garage and the driver acknowledged the mighty cheer that went up from the drivers and clippies that were standing outside. 

And then the Queen arrived, accompanied by six cars and two motorcycles. Her Majesty looked radiant, wearing a red hat and coat with the collar turned up, and pearl earrings. Over her lap was a tartan rug.

The St George’s children joined in warmly with the rest of the crowd in responding to this rare glimpse of the world’s ‘First Lady’. (She received) a rousing welcome, fit for a Queen!”

Local resident Maureen walked up to the main road with her family to watch the Queen go by Little Missenden and clearly remembers the “wonderful deep carmen coloured coat and hat”.

She was delighted that Queen’s car slowed down so that the crowd could see her “smile sweetly” through the glass screen as she passed.

This was a great improvement on an earlier experience, during WWII, when Maureen remembers, as a little girl, standing outside Our Lady’s Chesham Bois to watch the King drive past. She just caught a glance of a man in military uniform as his car passed by at some speed.

Another visit to High Wycombe

The Queen made her fourth visit (this being confirmed by Her Majesty herself!) to High Wycombe on November 18, 1994. Firstly, she went to Wycombe High School at the top of Marlow Hill to officially open the new Queen’s Sports Complex and to see the new science, technology, sport and drama facilities.

Next was a stop at the town hall to view an exhibition by Thames Valley Police about crime prevention and community safety.

Her Majesty then went on a walk-about in the High Street, stopping to chat to people, before going onto Loudwater to visit two technology businesses. They had both previously received the Queen’s Award for Industry for export and for technology. These were Insignia Solutions, a company involved in computer systems and software which is still located locally, as is the other company Madge Networks, which in the 1900s was a pioneering company in high-speed networking solutions. The Queen also took the opportunity to stop off at Loudwater Combined School and talk to some of the pupils.

The Redgrave statue in Marlow

On May 14, 2002 the Queen unveiled the larger-than-life statue of Britain’s five-times Olympic gold medal winner in Higginson Park to rapturous cheers from the packed gallery of spectators and the rower’s Olympic team-mates.

But while the crowd roared their approval, a proud Redgrave, from Marlow Bottom, felt that his bronze double was a little bit too accurate.

He joked: “The statue seems to be a good likeness. I would have liked to see it with a few less pounds around the middle but it is very good to be honoured like that in my hometown and close to the river where I started rowing.”

He added: “It is a very great occasion to have the Queen come to my hometown and having the statue unveiled by her was very, very special.”

Reminiscences

If you have any memories of any of the Queen’s visits to South Buckinghamshire, or have photographs of any of them, and would like to share these with other readers please email me deweymiked@aol.com.

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to Alison Bailey, Michael Eagleton and Neil Rees, the Bucks Free Press Nostalgia correspondents for Amersham, Marlow and Chesham respectively, for their input to this article.