Flood of memories as veterans recount Queen’s visit to Agra

The death of Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday, at the age of 96, revived memories among citizens of her visit to Agra. Accompanied by her husband, Prince Phillip, the Queen had toured Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata (then Calcutta) and Agra.

A veteran of Agra tourism and former president for Tourism Guild of Agra, Arun Dang, was 12 when he, along with his father, late Ranjeet Rai Dang, waited along the present day Mall Road of Agra and waved at Queen Elizabeth II – dressed in a sky blue dress and elbow-high gloves – as she passed in an open Chevrolet, while on her way to Taj Mahal, on January 30, 1961.

Hindustan Times (The Hindustan Times) had reported that visit, when the Queen was heard as saying, “It is a glorious sight,” after beholding the Taj, and had again visited the 17th Century marvel in marble shortly after 9 pm, the same day and stayed for nearly an hour. There were no restrictions on night viewing of the Taj Mahal in those days.

“A lot of anxiety prevailed in the crowd to see the ‘Maharani’ (Queen) as she was fondly termed, particularly at Pratappura crossing, on the way between the airport and the circuit house in Agra. Fine weather that day made viewing of the Taj and that of the Queen a pleasant affair,” said Dang, now 72.

“She was elegance personified with a hat and elbow-high gloves as she sat in an open vehicle. Later, she had visited an emporium on present day MG Road and the emporium still cherishes her signature,” recollects Dang.

“The royal couple also visited Agra Fort and Sheesh Mahal or the Glass House in Agra Fort. The guides at Agra Fort mentioned that visit of Queen Elizabeth II to visitors at Agra Fort for decades to follow till the Sheesh Mahal was closed for public viewing by the ASI,” Dang said.

“Senior leader Vijaylaxmi Pandit was present and then minister in the state cabinet for community development Sucheta Kriplani welcomed the guests at Kheria airport, Agra,” he recounted.

The veteran tourist guide of Agra, Shamshuddin was 16 when the Queen’s visit took place.

“Despite such a high-profile visit, there were no Tamasha in the name of security. Indians were anxious for the “Rani” coming from Britain. The Queen had entered the Taj from the Western Gate while the crowd was at the South Gate,” Shamshuddin recalls.

“Interestingly, the Taj Mahal was not that big a tourist destination for Indians those days but was a craze internationally, and a visit by the Queen that too twice in a day, left many amused in Agra,” Shamshuddin said.

Later her son, Prince Charles visited the Taj Mahal in 1980, followed by the much-talked-about visit of Princess Diana in 1992. A marble seat near the central tank, where Diana posed for pictures is still called Diana Seat at Taj Mahal. The grandson of the Queen, Prince William, also visited the Taj in 2017 along with his wife.