On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died at 96. In Hawaii, we remember her brief visits to the islands in 1963, 1970 and 1975.
1963
In 1963, Queen Elizabeth visited Honolulu in February and March, during refueling stops on her way to Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia, which are all part of the Commonwealth.
The first trip in February was unofficial and didn’t have much fanfare, although then-Gov. John Burns greeted the queen upon her arrival and she was given a double carnation lei.
For her trip in March, 4,500 people gathered to wave at Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip when they landed in Honolulu. The royal pair flew in a silver, black and white BOAC jet, which was topped with the queen’s yellow, blue and red standard, according to a March 28, 1963, issue of The Honolulu Advertiser. As she disembarked, “conch shells blew and applause rippled.”
Upon her arrival, Gov. John Burns gave the queen a four-stranded orange ilima lei, which matched the “honeysuckle print in bright coral shades” that adorned her turquoise dress, according to the newspaper. She also wore a turquoise rough-weave horsehair hat, a pearl necklace and earrings, and white gloves.
In a lounge adjacent to the airport’s gardens, she drank tea with Gov. Burns and his wife, Beatrice. The governor also introduced Queen Elizabeth to a small gathering of special guests, which included Duke Kahanamoku and his wife, Nadine. “All the women curtseyed as they were presented,” The Honolulu Advertiser wrote.
As a gift, Burns gave the queen a Hawaiian flag boxed in a koa chest.
“Noting the Union Jack which is a part of the Hawaii state flag, Burns termed it a token of our ‘love and respect for the British people of whom you are the reigning monarch,’” The Honolulu Advertiser said.
She was also given macadamia nuts, orchids, hand-carved wooden roses, and two cartons of fresh pineapples.
The Kamehameha Schools' Concert Glee Club, a girls’ chorus, wore muumuu and sang “Beautiful Kahana” and “Aloha Oe” before the queen departed.
The whole trip lasted less than an hour.
1970
When she came to Hawaii in 1970, it was for two brief stopovers — only spending about 45 minutes in the islands — in March and May. She arrived with Prince Philip and their 19-year-old daughter Princess Anne, according to a March 2, 1970, issue of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
During the March visit, Gov. Burns gave her a lei with ilima and maile. On this trip, she wore “a silk suit of burnt orange with white stripe design and a large white beret accented by an orange flower at one side,” according to a March 4, 1970, article in The Honolulu Advertiser.
She was again serenaded by the Kamehameha Schools’ Concert Glee Club. The queen slowed to listen to the Concert Glee Club sing “Waialae” and “Pupu Hinuhinu,” according to the same newspaper. Hawaii’s Royal Guard was also there to greet her.
Marty Cockett, a Kamehameha School graduate, told Spectrum News that he was in the boys chorus, which sang for the dedication of the state’s first 747 jumbo jet terminal — earlier on the same day — and he remembers seeing the queen.
“We were done before Queen Elizabeth arrived, and we thought to ask one of our principals if it would be alright for us to stay and see her majesty the queen,” said Cockett. “To our surprise, our principal, Mrs. Gladys Brandt, gave her permission as it would probably be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which it was.”
The governor introduced the queen to a small group again, including Mayor Frank Fasi and his wife, Joyce, The Honolulu Advertiser reported.
The royal pair strolled in the airport’s gardens and met with the governor in his VIP lounge, according to a March 3, 1970, Honolulu Star-Bulletin article. The queen reportedly enjoyed drinking pineapple juice. Midway through her meeting with the governor, Queen Elizabeth asked if she could go outside again and hear the music, The Honolulu Advertiser reported.
For gifts, the governor and his family gave the queen a white holomuu, a fitted, formal muumuu without a train, designed by Richard Goodwin; bette muus, classic-style muumuus, for the queen and princess; a pink-and-orange swimsuit with a matching short muu and paniola hat for the princess; and Aloha shirts for Prince Philip and Prince Charles.
Before leaving the islands, Gov. Burns gave the queen “a large monkeypod bowl carved in the shape of a wood rose,” according to The Honolulu Advertiser's article.
1975
In 1975, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip came to Hawaii for a two-day visit in May, relaxing and watching the dolphins from their suite balcony at the Kahala Hilton (now the Kahala Hotel and Resort), according to a May 4, 1975, article in The Honolulu Advertiser. They were stopping over on their way to visit Hong Kong and Japan.
At Washington Place, the queen dined with Gov. George Ariyoshi, his wife, Jean, their children as well as others, and was reportedly 45 minutes late.
“We talked about children — after all, we’re both parents,” Ariyoshi was quoted as saying in The Honolulu Advertiser's article about the conversation at the dinner.
For the dinner, the queen wore a “long sleeved full skirted gown with a pastel lavender and green floral print,” a Honolulu Star-Bulletin article from May 2, 1975, said. The governor wore an all-white suit.
“The songs of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii’s last monarch who lived in Washington Place, were featured in the entertainment provided by Kawai Cockett and his Lei Kukui group and Noelani Mahoe’s Leo Nahinahi group,” the Honolulu Star-Bulletin said.
Most of the food eaten that night would not be considered local cuisine — “breast of capon Devonshire, stuffed with truffles, pheasant and veal tongue, artichokes Florentine and asparagus noisette,” — but “the meal ended with an ice cream creation with layers of guava, passion fruit, coconut and pineapple,” the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported.
When the queen departed, about 200 people gathered to wave goodbye. This time, she wore a blue and white summer dress. Gov. Ariyoshi presented Queen Elizabeth with a bouquet of anthuriums as a going-away gift, and his wife gave Prince Philip a triple-strand pikake lei.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii.