| Speech: The Queen On 50 Years of Marriage (1997) |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | |
| Sunday, 18 November 2007 | |
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Page 1 of 4 Speech: The Queen's Response To A Speech By Prime Minister Tony Blair At A Banquet At The Guildhall In London Celebrating The Golden Wedding Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip (The Duke of Edinburgh) Date: 20th November 1997 "When Prince Philip and I were married on this day 50 years ago, Britain had just endured six years of war, emerging battered but victorious. Prince Philip had served in the Royal Navy in the Far East, while I was grappling, in the ATS, with the complexities of the combustion engine and learning to drive an ambulance with care." "Today, Prime Minister, we accept your generous hospitality in a very different Britain. The Cold War is over and our country is at peace. The economy in your charge, and which you inherited, is soundly based and growing. And, during these last 50 years, the mass media culture has transformed our lives in any number of ways, allowing us to learn more about our fellow human beings than, in 1947, we thought possible." "What a remarkable 50 years they have been for the world, the Commonwealth and Britain." 
"We would never have heard someone speak from the Moon; never have watched England win the World Cup, or Red Rum three Grand Nationals." "We would never have heard that Everest had been scaled, DNA unravelled, the Channel tunnel built, hip replacements become commonplace." "Above all we would never have known the joys of children and grandchildren." |
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