Monarch Wows Crowds on Her Second Visit

Queen Elizabeth II on a five day state tour

The second visit of the late Queen Elizabeth II to our fair shore was – in the strict sense – her first to the country as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Her Majesty had toured the country as far back as 1954, a wondrous sign even then of the long reign that the head of Britain and the Commonwealth would have…

And the Queen’s 10 day tour only five months after her coronation (the first by a ruling monarch) won her hearts and admirers everywhere.

Her 1981 tour of the island was a memorable one for the former Dominion of Ceylon, which had begun to enjoy the privilege of universal adult suffrage in 1931. This was years – and streets – ahead of its peers on the planet including ironically, the United Kingdom itself (the country that spawned an empire did not grant its citizens the franchise until 1945!).

The royal tour of the Queen to her erstwhile Crown Colony encompassed a spectrum of official visits to archaeological sites, and other places of historical, cultural and political interest – often in the company of President J. R. Jayewardene and Mahaweli Development Minister Gamini Dissanayake.

And the latter especially – being the main mover in a keystone project involving a UK construction business and funded by British donations – was her chaperone on the Queen’s visit to the Victoria Dam, which was the jewel in the crown of the accelerated Mahaweli Development Programme, being Dissanayake’s bailiwick.

The regal couple (Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and her consort, was by her side on Her Majesty’s first visit to the isle as well) also graced the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya; the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy; and Anuradhapura’s ancient and most revered sapling (now a holy plant) Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi (sacred bo tree) in its historical Mahamewna Garden setting.

The Queen was accompanied on these visits by local dignitaries such as Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa and cabinet minister Lalith Athulathmudali among others – with the royal entourage travelling to some of these destinations in a five day itinerary on the Viceroy Special luxury train where she had a dedicated cabin and staff service reminiscent of bygone imperial days.

The royal tour of the Queen to her erstwhile Crown Colony encompassed a spectrum of official visits to archaeological sites, and other places of historical, cultural and political interest