‘There was a huge amount of nerves:’ Behind the scenes of Queen Elizabeth’s Cork visit
A smiling Queen Elizabeth II in the English Market during her visit to Cork. Picture: Denis Minihane.
It’s a moment many people will reflect on following the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II but in the weeks leading up to her visit to Cork, there was a lot of preparation, as well as some funny moments behind the scenes on the day.
Wedding planner Peter Kelly, also known as Franc, was recruited by Cork City Council as part of a team that helped to organise the British Queen’s visit to the county.
The trip to the English Market and that iconic photograph with fish monger Pat O’Connell came during the final day of the historic state visit from the queen and her husband, Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The team looked after everything from the British queen’s unique bouquet to the decor in the English market. Preparations included sourcing Cork lace for the bouquet, picking roses from local gardens, placing trees within the English Market and sculpting fruits and vegetables for a striking centrepiece.
“It was a massive undertaking to get the market ready for something like this,” says Peter Kelly. “It looked seamless, but it was actually months of working and preparation getting ready for it."
Nonetheless, the English Market was the perfect setting for the visit.
“The English Market was a perfect location to meet really down-to-earth vendors so everybody she met within the market was a person who actually physically worked there,” says the wedding planner. “That was, I felt, really nice because she got to meet real local people.”
When the day came there were some nerves, but the vendors stayed true to themselves and their quintessentially Irish ways, laughing and joking with the British royals.
“I remember Pat [O’Connell] was very nervous beforehand. I said 'just pretend she’s from Montenotte',” jokes Mr Kelly. “I think there were lots of funny moments. I remember someone, I think it was Philip asked someone else, he said, ‘you’ve an awful lot of meat I hope you’re going to be busy’ and the vendor said, ‘when ye head off now I might get a bit of work done’.”
Recalling the day, he says: “There was a huge amount of nerves, a huge amount of excitement.”
As for between the queen and her husband, the wedding planner remembers a few stand-out moments.
“I found her to be the most amazing individual to see her, at her age, standing for so long and having words with everybody. Also, there was great banter between herself and Philip,” he says.
“Philip was very funny because Philip would tend to wander off route and she would bring him back on track each time.
"I think she was with the lady who has the cheese stall at the market and Philip started picking out all of the British cheeses…and the queen said 'why don’t you pick out a few Irish'. They were very much a couple and very down-to-earth.”
When it came to decor, the goal was to reflect the organic, local and fresh produce within the iconic Cork landmark that would be the backdrop of the visit.
“We knew the location of her plaque would be at the fountain. That was a Victorian fountain, so I wanted to recreate that into something really pretty. In Victorian times, they used to make beautiful fountains with a lot of hand-painted fruits and vegetables, so we sculpted fruits and vegetables from the market on top of the fountain and created a big, beautiful centrepiece.”
The main message throughout the visit was simple: Welcome to Cork — and this was in place from the get-go, with a large 3D sign saying just that placed in perfect view as the queen and her husband touched down in the Rebel County.
“We felt like the welcome to Cork to was welcome to Queen Elizabeth but also it was welcome to the world of Cork,” says Mr Kelly. ”It was very, very simple but it became the one message that was the most dominant.”
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