Here Comes The Queen: A Sense of History

UNITED NATIONS - Queen Elizabeth II addressed the UN General Assembly for the
first time since 1957, walking down the aisle with Prince Philip in bridal party fashion,
with delegates standing and applauding. Although her walk to the green marble podium
was similar to her first visit, the British Empire in 1957 still had colonies while many of
the UN's 192 members now are former British colonies.

The 2010 speech by the 84 year-old queen was much meatier than the nine paragraphs
she recited in 1957, where one would be hard-pressed to detect that World War II ended
only 12 years earlier and much of Europe was still in tatters.

On Tuesday, in her eight-minute speech, she spoke of terrorism, of climate change, of

poverty, of peace, saying: "In my lifetime, the United Nations has moved from being a
high-minded aspiration to being a real force for common good....It has perhaps always
been the case that the waging of peace is the hardest form of leadership of all."

In her five hour visit to New York, after a nine-day stay in Canada, Queen Elizabeth and
Prince Philip placed a wreath of flowers at a site of the Sept. 11 attacks and chatted with
victims' families in a 15 minute visit in 100F degree (38C), weather to the World Trade
Center site. She also attended a memorial for British victims of the attack.

Rituals change little. The 1957 visit featured the same walk-in down the aisle rather than
an entry behind the podium, barely altered since then. But the 31-year old Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Philip rode in an open car (gasp!) to the UN front gate and security
was lax enough for crowds to gather in the driveway and the sidewalks surrounding the
world body. The famed Swedish UN secretary-general, Dag Hammarskjold, did the
honors and New York hosted a ticker-tape parade.

Glamor and Gloves

In 1957, she was glamorous in a dark colored sheath dress, a mink stole, high heels, a
light-colored hat --and of course gloves, according to a newsreel from the era. Heat or no
heat, the gloves remained on Tuesday but there was no fur. She wore a summer white
two-piece dress dotted with small flowers and a matching hat.

Queen Elizabeth said that the greatest transformation she had witnessed in all her years
was in social attitudes, science and technology, many caused by citizens and not their
governments. (The United Nations had 82 members when she first spoke compared to
192 today.)

"Many of these sweeping advances have come about not because of governments,
committee resolutions or central directives -- although all these have played a part -- but
instead because millions of people around the world wanted them," she said.
Yet she said the "achievements of the United Nations are remarkable." When she was
first here, there were just three UN operations overseas. Now over 120,000 people are
deployed in 26 missions around the world.

She was escorted into the cavernous hall by Assembly President Ali Treki and Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon, who said her reign over many decades, witnessed "the challenges
of the cold war to the threat of global warming, from the Beatles to Beckham."

The Queen noted that for over six decades, the UN had helped shape the international
response to global dangers.

"The challenge now is to continue to show this clear and convening leadership while not
losing sight of your ongoing work to secure the security, prosperity and dignity of our
fellow human beings. When people in 53 years from now look back on us, they will
doubtless view many of our practices as old-fashioned. But it is my hope that, when
judged by future generations, our sincerity, our willingness to take a lead and our
determination to do the right thing will stand the test of time."

Commonwealth
The sense of history was palatable. In 1957, the Commonwealth of Nations, which the
Queen heads, had 10 of the UN's 82 members: Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa,
India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and two states which had just become
independent: Malaysia (then Federation of Malaya) and Ghana.

Now the Commonwealth has 54 members in the United Nations. They have a combined
population of 2.1 billion people, almost a third of the world population, of which 1.17
billion live in India and 94 percent live in Asia and Africa combined. Most are former
British colonies while others, like Rwanda, have asked to join. But in the United Nations,
they do not form a block and take similar views.

The Queen is also head of state in 16 nations: Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,
Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint
Kitts and Nevis with a combined population of 128 million.

"Very impressive," said Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin after the speech. The US
delegation was headed by Alejandro Wolff, the deputy ambassador. US Ambassador
Susan E. Rice attended President Obama's lunch with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu in Washington.
.