00:00Welcome to New York. Now we've been up the Empire State Building and we've
00:04admired the views from the edge, but what better way to take in the city's iconic
00:08skyline than from right here on the water.
00:14Now we know the Royals love water. We do. And today we are having a lovely dinner
00:20on board, you know, a gorgeous boat on the Hudson, courtesy of City Cruises and
00:26we've just seen Staten Island Ferry go by and now it's incredible that that was
00:32one of the late Queen's bucket list moments. You got pretty excited, Andrea.
00:37She wanted to go on a Staten Island Ferry and she got her wish in 1957.
00:42Wow, we've got helicopters. Honestly, New York never stops amazing me.
00:49No, you're right. The Queen was here in 1957. It was her first visit to New York and she
00:54wanted to follow in the footsteps of her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth,
00:58who made a very similar journey here in 1939, also arriving by water into the city.
01:05Very James Bond.
01:06Very James Bond. She and Prince Philip came on board the Staten Island Ferry. They took
01:11in the view. It's something she'd always wanted to do. And who can blame her?
01:15I mean, who can blame her? The views are incredible.
01:19Spectacular, inimitable harbour welcome serenaded the flotilla that carried the royal couple to the city.
01:24The approach by water, scenically the finest first glimpse of Gotham, was the Queen's
01:28own idea. Prince Philip was impressed too.
01:35The royal couple proceeded up Broadway, the canyon of heroes, bombarded by tons of ticker tape,
01:41millions of cheers, in what was the most enthusiastic reception anywhere in Elizabeth's ten-day North
01:47American tour. The monarch of ten Commonwealth nations was New York's queen for a day, her
01:58last day in America and the most memorable. Now we've uncovered archives from that time.
02:06Demands, not quite demands, but how they preferred their food, what drinks they liked, also how they
02:12should be addressed. Things obviously me and you know. Protocol. Protocol.
02:16The kind of thing that would be provided by the British Embassy or the Local Consul General to help
02:21people prepare for the visit and know how to address them. And this was quite a special visit
02:26because obviously it hadn't happened in many years. It was four years after her coronation.
02:30So it was very, very important to get everything right. Absolutely. And she was, don't forget, a very young,
02:36very glamorous young queen. The whole world was captivated by her. You know, she'd come to throne
02:41at such a young age. And I think to bring her into 1950s New York was just such a glamorous
02:48moment,
02:48full stop. Now things we learned from those archives, obviously how to address her, Her Majesty.
02:52We know this. How to address Prince Philip, His Royal Highness. After that, Ma'am and Sir. Also,
02:59how they like their meals. Very simple and small, which is when you're traveling, I think it's the best way
03:05to go.
03:05I think that always makes sense. And we know they avoided garlic and things like that,
03:09because they're always meeting so many people. But they did like the odd tipple.
03:13Sherry. They liked sherry. What else? They liked Rhine wine,
03:16was a favorite of the queen. And then also Canada Dry Ale. So, you know, she may have been in
03:21the
03:22United States, but it was a little nod to the northern neighbors there, which she was sovereign, of course.
03:26What would she have made of the lovely Prosecco we had when we came into the...
03:29I think she would have approved. She would have approved.
03:32Now, Prince Harry has also been in the Hudson, not quite on a ferry, US Coast Guard, 2009. And that
03:40was a very important visit. It was like his first solo visit to the Big Apple. And it was a
03:44very
03:44important one. It was. So it was a big moment for him to come here. And obviously a city that
03:49was so synonymous with his late mother, Diana Princess of Wales.
04:07So he must have had some strong emotions coming here, I would have thought. But he was still
04:11serving in the British Army at the time. And this was a moment for him to kind of step into
04:16that,
04:17you know, royal duty alongside those. But you picked up on some headlines around that visit,
04:22didn't you? Yes. I read an article from a New York Times. And it was about how this
04:28was a trip to kind of brush off those reports about him being a party prince. And it had actually
04:34left New Yorkers pretty impressed. That's right. I mean, we won't mention the fact that, you know,
04:39the trip to Vegas for years later may have undone that. Exactly. Now, William, William was actually
04:46in the water, not quite the Hudson, but in the East River, which we went by before.
04:51Yeah, he went a step further. He's brave. He's brave. And he went quite early in the morning as
04:56well. He was there as part of his visit in 2023 for the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit. And what
05:02better way to demonstrate the need to clean our water and protect our waterways than to actually get
05:08in and do it yourself. It certainly garnered a lot of attention. I love that they like to get
05:12their hands dirty. I mean, I mean, really dirty. I mean, it was I think it was pretty, pretty dirty.
05:17I know. But it really did a lot to highlight a good cause. Well, we've enjoyed this incredible cruise.
05:23But before we go, we need to mention Princess Anne. Of course. How could I forget? So yeah,
05:29she was here in 2022. She was here to visit a lighthouse. We know she's a huge fan. She's a
05:36real passion of hers.
05:37But what was really special about that is almost 65 years to the day since her parents had visited.
05:43And also a moment for her that was particularly poignant because just two weeks earlier had been
05:49the late Queen Elizabeth's funeral. And of course, she played such an important part.
05:52There's no stopping Princess Anne, is there? There's no stopping her. But I know
05:56her visit here went down a storm. Well, I think we should enjoy the last minutes that we have on
06:01this cruise.
06:02I think we should. Well, let's do it.
06:03We'll see you next time.
06:13Bye.
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