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Rich And Diverse: Queen Elizabeth II On India After Her Visits

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch passed away at 96 on September 8. Queen Elizabeth’s connection to India is conspicuous for Britain spent almost 200 years colonising India.

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Ritika Joshi
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Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch passed away at 96 on September 8. Queen Elizabeth’s connection to India is conspicuous for Britain spent almost 200 years colonising India.
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Queen Elizabeth II On India

The Queen visited India in 1961, 1983, and 1997. She has also hosted three Indian presidents during her reign.

Queen Elizabeth II spoke about Britain and India’s shared history and connection during her State Banquet Address for President Pratibha Patil in 2009. She made the address at Buckingham Palace and said, “The warmth and hospitality of the Indian people and the richness and diversity of India itself have been an inspiration to all of us.”

She added that the royal family hoped to “repay some of the kindness shown to us in India during your visit”.

The Queen said, “Britain and India have a long-shared history which today is a source of great strength in building a new partnership fit for this new century… We look forward to the expansion of this in many spheres.”

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During the Queen’s 1997 visit, the Queen visited the premises of Jallianwala Bagh, the site of a massacre where British troops fired upon hundreds of Indian protestors and civilians.

A day before her visit to Amritsar, she said, “It is no secret that there have been some difficult episodes in our past – Jallianwala Bagh, which I shall visit tomorrow, is a distressing example. But history cannot be rewritten, however much we might sometimes wish otherwise. It has its moments of sadness, as well as gladness. We must learn from the sadness and build on the gladness.”

When Queen Elizabeth II visited the memorial, she was clad in a saffron dress and took her shoes off before entering the memorial. She laid a wreath of flowers at the memorial and observed 30 seconds of silence.


Suggested Reading: Queen Elizabeth Britain's Longest-Serving Monarch: 10 Facts You Never Knew

Queen Elizabeth II
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