July 1966: The Queen Visits NI
July 1966: The Queen Visits NI
QEII Bridge, Protest & Fears
There must have been something in the air on Monday the 4th of July 1966…
The Beatles visited the Philippines, and after they didn’t attend a social engagement hosted by Amelda Marcos (First Lady), they were attacked upon leaving the country and forced to surrender some of their earnings from their two shows.
On the same day, over 7,000 miles away, The Queen was making an official visit to Northern Ireland, and she too became a target for angry protestors. The Queen and Prince Philip visited Belfast to open a new bridge. There had been a prolonged squabble over the name of the new bridge, with Belfast councillors originally wanting it to be called "Carson's Bridge". However, the issue was finally resolved by calling it the "Queen Elizabeth II Bridge".
It was during this visit that a concrete block was dropped from the top of a building onto the bonnet of the car the Queen was travelling in. The Queen was also subject of a bottle being thrown at her car by a woman whilst travelling up Royal Avenue. The Queen was not harmed in either incident, but it did highlight the division in Northern Ireland and the fact that some resented British Rule over Home Rule.
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On 3 July 1966, to coincide with the Queen’s visit, the Sunday Times published an investigation, under the title 'John Bull's Political Slum', into the growing crisis in the region. The hard-hitting article was compiled by Cal McCrystal and the ST Insight team of investigative journalists and represented a turning point in British journalism on Ireland.
The article began; “When the flags and bunting are hauled down after the Royal visit Mr Wilson’s government will still be confronted with a sharp alternative; whether to use reserve powers to bring elementary social justice to Ulster or simply allow Britain’s most isolated province to work out its own bizarre destiny. During the 45 years since partition, the latter has often been negligently adopted with what looks like disastrous results.”.
This was a pretty damning opinion on the future of the troubles in Northern Ireland, and one that raised a lot of eyebrows, bringing the potential for war into focus.
Around the same time, The Observer wrote; “Bigotry is a casual, unchallenged reflex here: it is difficult to find any institutions, even individuals, it has not tainted. This is a sick, sick country”.
This was a crude indictment of the people of Northern Ireland, but one that many people could relate to, whether they liked the smear or not.
Sources
A Chronology of Key Events in Irish History 1800-1967 - https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch1800-1967.htm
Belfast Telegraph Report - https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/mum-of-uvf-teen-victim-peter-ward-laid-to-rest-after-52-years-of-grieving-36543597.html
‘JOHN BULL’S POLITICAL SLUM’ by Brian John Spencer - https://brianjohnspencer.tumblr.com/post/123268917688/john-bulls-political-slum