Queen swamped by letters after visit
“The Palace report that they’ve had more letters following this visit than they can recall following any other visit during her reign,” the British Ambassador to Ireland, Julian King, said yesterday.
He was speaking in Cork at the official opening of the President’s and Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Fitzgerald Park which was visited by King Edward VII in 1903.
“They’ve had thousands of letters to the palace, from all around the world,” he said.
“But most powerfully, and most movingly, a lot of these letters are from Irish citizens in Britain who followed the visit and were deeply touched by what they saw.”
He described the Queen’s tour of the English Market, and her walkabout on the Grand Parade, as the highlights of the visit — particularly for the Queen herself.
“She was full of enthusiasm for the visit,” he said. “It lived up to and exceeded her expectations.”
He said it was now up to people like him to build on the goodwill created by the visit and transform it into trade and economic links.
“But it can also have a deeper impact,” he said.
“If we can feel more comfortable with elements of our shared history, then we’re in a better position to realise our shared future and shared potential.”
Mr King was among the guests at the official opening of the landmark pavilion which has been sensitively restored and revamped for use as an exhibition space.
It was built in 1901 after the first elected Lord Mayor of Cork, Edward Fitzgerald, proposed that Cork should stage an international industrial exhibition in 1902 on the Mardyke.
