Did Queen Elizabeth II visit Peru in her 96 years of life?

Queen Elizabeth II, 96, died Thursday hours after her doctors said they were “concerned” about her health and recommended that she be placed under medical supervision at her Scottish castle in Balmoral. This was reported by Buckingham Palace, which later confirmed her death in a statement.

Did Queen Elizabeth II ever visit our country in her 96 years of life? The answer is nobut other members of the British royal family did. In this note we tell you which close relatives of Isabel II did arrive in Peru, which cities they visited, what they did and how they were received.

Which members of the royal family visited Peru?

According to information from the journalistic archives of Diario El Comercio, the first visit to the country by a member of the British royal family was not in 1962, as was believed, with the arrival in the capital of Prince Felipe Edinburgh, husband of Elizabeth II. , but it happened 30 years before, on February 8, 1931when the Prince of Wales, Eduardo de Windsor, arrived at Talara Bay, in Piura, together with his younger brother Jorge, Duke of Kentfrom Panama.

They were received by the English colony in Peru and toured the oil camps operated by the London Pacific Petroleum Company, as reported by the portal “Talara my pride.” The prince and the duke also took time to fish in Cabo Blanco and stroll in Máncora, where they ate grouper ceviche, golden swordfish fillets and quenched their thirst with chicha morada.

But they not only visited the north of our country, but also Callao, Lima, Arequipa, Cusco and Puno, where they navigated the Titicaca. It was the government of Piuran Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro, who decorated the Prince of Wales with the Order of the Sun of Peru and in turn was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire.

In honor of the brothers there were official receptions, banquets and a gala ball at the National Club located in Plaza San Martín.

Three years later, Edward of Windsor would assume the throne of the United Kingdom as Edward VIII, but he would abdicate after 326 days in order to marry the American Wallis Simpson. His other brother George, Duke York and father of Queen Elizabeth, was the one who assumed the throne.

Sixteen years later, in 1947, Elizabeth married Philip, Prince of Greece and Denmark, and in 1953 she was crowned Elizabeth II after the death of her father, King George VI.

George and Edward of Windsor on their visit to the Government Palace. In the center, President Miguel Sánchez Cerro. (GEC Historical Archive)

The arrival of the queen’s husband

Nine years later, the queen’s husband, Felipe Edinburgh, arrived in Lima on an official visit. According to the file of El Comercio, the “Prince Felipe, Duke of Edinburgh”, a title given to him by the queen, landed on February 21 at 3 in the afternoon at the Limatambo airportwith a small entourage, but with 200 suitcases of personal luggage.

He visited the Government Palace, where he was received with state honors by then President Manuel Prado. On his way to the center of Lima, hundreds of people applauded him and threw rose petals. Isabel’s husband greeted with kindness from a classic convertible car, the Dean said.

Even, Felipe dared to fly his own plane for an hour through the gray sky of Lima. His trip lasted six days in which he practiced horseback riding, rode a yacht around Ancón, toured Trujillo, Chiclayo and Cusco., where he visited the sanctuary of Machu Picchu. She also ended her stay in Puno, before continuing her trip to Bolivia.

Felipe de Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, on February 21, 1962, when he walked along the Jirón de la Unión on his way to the Government Palace. (GEC historical archive photo)

The visit of the daughter of the monarch

The next visit from a member of the British family was registered in 2017, with the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter, Princess Anne of England, sister of Prince Charles. Ana arrived to carry out a series of social work activities and traveled to the populated center of Orán, in Maynas, Loreto region, where he inaugurated the Forth Hope medical ship. It was the third time he had visited Peru, according to the UK embassy.

Ana traveled in the river boat, which was implemented to assist with doctors and medicines to the Chambira, Puinahua, Ucayali, Marañón, Manatí and Amazon basins. “It is a historic day for the Amazonian peoples due to the presence of Princess Anne of England, who had the decision to help Loreto, collaborate and work in coordination with us to serve the most needy people”, said the then regional governor, Fernando Meléndez.

In Lima, the princess met with former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and visited the International Potato Center. She also unveiled a statue of British-Peruvian Vice Admiral Martin Jorge Guise Wright (1780-1828) in the municipality of San Borja, as part of the British Cultural Association’s 80th anniversary celebrations.

The princess ended her visit with a dinner at the British embassy, given by chef Virgilio Martínez, according to reports.