Naval guns, crowds welcome Queen Elizabeth to Hong Kong in 1975 – from the SCMP archive
Advertisement
To the boom of welcoming naval guns firing a Royal salute and the skirl of Gurkha pipers, the Queen was yesterday welcomed to Hong Kong as she sailed across Fragrant Harbour.
Amid waving flags and beneath the skyscrapers of Hong Kong and Kowloon, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, received an enthusiastic welcome as they made their historic touchdown at Kai Tak.
A historic moment for Hong Kong as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip arrive at Kai Tak Airport on May 4, 1975. Photo: SCMP
It was the first visit to the Colony of a reigning monarch since Hong Kong came under British rule 134 years ago after the first Opium War.
Fireboats sent gigantic sprays into the air as the Governor's launch, Lady Maurine, took the Queen, Prince Philip, and the Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, and Lady MacLehose, to an appropriately-named landing point on Hong Kong Island – Queen's Pier.
The Royal couple enjoyed a triumphant welcome. Distant crowds cheered as the special British Airways Boeing 707 jet roared in over Lyemun.
Advertisement
Under brilliant skies, with a few puffy white clouds, the jet touched down gently as it landed.
The Queen and Prince Philip stepped down from the plane to greet the Governor and Lady MacLehose, the Commander British Forces, Sir Edwin Brammall, the Colonial Secretary, Mr Denys Roberts, the Chief Justice, Sir Geoffrey Briggs, Senior Executive Councillor, Sir Yuet-keung Kan, and Lady Kan, and Senior Legislative Councillor, Dr S. Y. Chung, and Lady Chung.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
36 minutes ago
- RTHK
Trade on agenda as Trump lands in Scotland
Trade on agenda as Trump lands in Scotland Donald Trump takes questions after landing in Scotland. Photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump landed in Scotland on Friday for a five-day visit set to mix diplomacy, business and leisure, as a huge UK security operation swung into place amid planned protests near his family-owned golf resorts. The president, whose mother was born in Scotland, will split his time between two seaside golf courses bearing his name, in Turnberry on the southwestern coast and Aberdeen in the northeast. Air Force One, carrying the president and White House staff, touched down at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow shortly before 8:30 pm (1930 GMT). Police officers lined surrounding streets and several hundred curious Scots came out hoping for a glimpse of the US leader as he made his way to Turnberry. Trump has no public events scheduled for Saturday and is expected to play golf at his picturesque resort, before meeting EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday for trade talks. Trump is also due to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the trip. "We're going to do a little celebrating together, because we got along very well," Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Friday, calling Starmer "a good guy" doing "a very good job." He said they would discuss "fine tuning" the bilateral trade deal struck in May, and would "maybe even improve it." But the unpredictable American leader appeared unwilling to cede to a UK request for reduced steel and aluminium tariffs. Trump has exempted British exports from blanket 50 percent tariffs on both metals, but the fate of that carve-out remains unclear. "If I do it for one, I have to do it for all," Trump told reporters, when asked if he had any "wiggle room" for the UK on the issue. The international outcry over the conflict in Gaza may also be on the agenda, as Starmer faces growing pressure to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and announce that Britain will also recognise a Palestinian state. (AFP)
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China on Thai-Cambodian conflict; Taiwan recall vote: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing China and Europe should foster a 'healthy' economic relationship characterised by both competition and cooperation, the Chinese premier told European Union leaders and businesses on Thursday. China will continue to play a 'constructive role' in helping to ease regional tensions, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday, as Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire on their border for a second day. Chinese researchers have manufactured the world's largest barium gallium selenide (BGSe) crystal, a breakthrough that could pave the way for ultra-high-power laser weapons capable of zapping satellites from the ground.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
UK plans to restart extraditions to Hong Kong, sparking fears among activists
The UK government is planning to reintroduce extradition cooperation with Hong Kong on a 'case-by-case basis', triggering fears that activists seeking refuge in Britain could be sent back to the city. The plan was revealed on Thursday by the UK's Shadow National Security and Safeguarding Minister Alicia Kearns, who shared on X a letter from Security Minister Dan Jarvis to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, in which Jarvis communicated the planned changes to the Extradition Act 2003. Jarvis said the amendments, which were introduced in the House of Commons on July 17, would remove Hong Kong from the Act, so that the UK government could work with the former British colony on a 'case-by-case ad hoc basis'. 'The safety and security of our citizens is our top priority,' Jarvis wrote. 'Ensuring that territories are correctly designated under the Act will ensure that the UK can accept extradition requests in a lawful and timely way to ensure the public is not put at risk.' The extradition arrangement between the UK and Hong Kong was suspended in 2020 after the Beijing-imposed national security law took effect in the city. It followed months-long protests in the city in 2019 against a planned extradition bill by the local government. In his letter, Jarvis explained that as there was no international arrangement with Hong Kong allowing extradition, the UK could not validate an extradition request from the city, 'even if there were strong operational grounds to do so'.
