11/25/2009 11:29:00 AM Jubilant crowd turns out to greet the Royals
* Photo by Sirkka Huish. ‘Professional greeter of royalty’: Flag-waving Martin Cusack, pictured left with his wife, Maureen, and sister Pat Gardner, clutches a framed black and white photo of the Queen from her visit in 1953.
Thousands of people filled up King's Square in St. George's to give the Queen a royal welcome.
About 2,000 people lined the sidewalks, stood on balconies, hung out of windows and clambered onto rooftops to get a glimpse of royalty.
And as soon as Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived the crowd enthusiastically cheered, clapped and waved their flags.
It was the day the crowds had been waiting for and the Queen did not disappoint as she took the time to talk to people and shake their hands.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh arrived in King's Square at about 3:15pm yesterday shortly after a 21 gun salute.
The Queen immediately impressed the crowd in her bright fuchsia suit with lavender trim and matching hat, black gloves and black handbag, topped off with a pearl necklace.
Shouts of "she's beautiful," "she looks good" and "how radiant" could be heard, as well as an agreement from the crowd that "she's a lot shorter than I thought."
Right at the front of the crowd was flag-waving Martin Cusack clutching a framed black and white photo of the Queen from her visit in 1953.
The 88-year-old proudly recalls clambering onto a wall to take the photo of the Queen "giving a gracious wave" as she passed his house in Point Finger Road, Paget.
Mr. Cusack, wife Maureen Cusack, 77, and her sister Pat Gardner, 72, "staked their claim" to a good spot at about 12:45pm.
Mr. Cusack calls himself a "professional greeter of royalty" having seen the queen three times in Bermuda, once in London and once in Edinburgh.
He said: "The photo has been hanging on my living room wall for 56 years and admired by all. I wanted to bring it along to show her and tell her she looks as radiant now as she did then.
"The Queen is a marvellous person who represents so much, she's dedicated to the job. The royal family is like the glue that holds together the Commonwealth."
Another die-hard royalist was 61-year-old Ann Ross who was proudly displaying a King George V silver jubilee 1910-1935 flag.
The manager of The Barn said someone bought the historic flag into the thrift shop a few years ago.
Mr. Ross, who has seen the Queen every time she's visited Bermuda, said: "I put the flag away somewhere safe as I knew it would come in handy one day.
"The British Empire is a lovely thing, I admire the royal family and everything that they do. They never do anything wrong in my eyes."
Did the island proud
The crowd did the island proud as people made friends, shared jokes and saved each other's places.
Visible among them was more than 20 students from Clearwater Middle School and scores of youngsters from St. David's Primary School and East End Primary School. There were also about 20 youngsters aged 9 to 17 from the T.S. Admiral Somers sea cadets, plus Cub Scouts, Brownies and Guides.
Three of the youngest members of the crowd were six-month-old babies Kyla White, Sadie Jimenez and Philip Hanekom who were dressed for the occasion wearing tin foil crowns.
Mom Jenn White, who took along baby Kyla, said: "It's an opportunity to be part of the 400th year celebrations and to be part of history.
"The babies may not remember being here, but we'll show them the pictures."
The Queen stood on a platform in the middle of the square as the Regiment band played the national anthem God Save the Queen.
Her Majesty received a Royal Salute and was invited to inspect the Regiment's Guard of Honour before meeting the island's dignitaries.
Governor Sir Richard Gozney introduced her to Chief Justice Richard Ground and House of Assembly speaker Stanley Lowe before Premier Ewart Brown introduced her to members of the Cabinet and UBP leader Kim Swan. Each person took a bow or curtsey before exchanging a few words with the Queen.
The Queen signed the guest book inside the Town Hall before being presented bouquets from three waiting children.
The Governor then accompanied the Queen on a walk to Ordnance Island. She swiftly walked from side to side of the barriers stopping and chatting to the crowd. She collected gifts and bouquets of flowers en route.
Sir Richard could be heard telling her about the history of the Deliverance as the Queen replied "It's a replica, I see."
And in less than half an hour the Queen's visit to St. George's was all over. At about 3:45pm the royal motorcade headed towards Government House.
The crowd quickly moved on knowing they had been part of history and the only sign of the Queen's visit was a long line of traffic heading towards
Hamilton.
Views from the crowd * "She didn't look like she does on coins. She just looked different in the face."
Kandell Trott, 7, East End Primary School.
* "I really, really wanted to see the Queen. We are both getting old and I don't know if I'll get another chance."
Janet Percy, St. David's.
* "She's a great public figure, a great woman, I wanted to see if the Queen was wearing billion dollar jewellery. Seeing her is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Gianni Nesbeth, 14, T.S. Admiral Somers sea cadet unit.
* "The children have been so excited, they've all been talking about the Queen. It's important for them to know the relationship between Bermuda and Britain, it's history."
Kristo Foggo, P6 teacher at St. David's Primary School.
* "The Queen looks after Bermuda and England. She doesn't do it for fun, she does it for our country.
I hope to see her again next year and the year after that."
Jmone't Hill, 7, St. David's Primary School.
* "The Queen is tall, wears a gown and has lots of diamonds. She loves coming to Bermuda but looks old now."
Kyra John, 9, St David's Primary School.
* "The Queen keeps Bermuda under control. It's a hard job. She always wears dress suits with a crown on her head."
Isaiah Camara, 9, St. David's Primary School.
* "She looked pretty. She's really important and she loves us."
Toni Ingermann, 8, East End Primary School.
* "I wanted to see her as I have never seen her before. She will be dressed all fancy."
Suraeya Wainwright, 13, Clearwater Middle School.
* "I've always admired the Queen. She's highly inspirational and is dedicated to what she does."
Mary Dunning, Smith's.
* "I thought it was very memorable and a timely reflection of our 400th anniversary. The day's been a real milestone, something to tell future generations."
