Visits to zoos by heads of state

Z

zooman64

Well-Known Member
I am wanting to compile a list of the visits made to zoos in Britain and around the world by heads of state, such as members of the Royal Family (British Royal Family or the royal family of other countries) or by presidents (U.S.A. or other countries).

By Royal Family, I mean any member from the Queen or King downwards.

Can any zoochatters supply me with details: zoo, date of visit (precise date if possible, or the year if the precise date isn't known), the head of state that visited, the purpose of their visit (such as to formally open a new exhibit), and any other comments, such as whether the zoo was closed to the public for the whole or part of their visit.
 
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The Queen visited Maidstone Zoo (!) but it may have been pre-1952.

Will hunt out details.

It was before her accession. On 12 November 1946.
 
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The Queen visited Dudley Zoo on June 24, 1994 to open the Interpretation Centre in Dudley Castle (the zoo is in the grounds of the castle). More details here: Happy Birthday, Ma'am | Dudley Zoological Gardens

The Queen & the Duke of Edinburgh visited Chester Zoo on May 17, 2012 to open the new Diamond Jubilee quarter.
 
zooman64 said:
...such as members of the Royal Family (British Royal Family or the royal family of other countries) or by presidents (U.S.A. or other countries).
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It might be worth clarifying whether you mean a head of state or a member of a royal family, since they're not the same thing. For example, The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are both members of the royal family, whereas only The Queen is the head of state.
 
Paignton: The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the Marie Le Fevre Ape Centre on 24 July 1998.

Living Coasts: Officially opened by Princess Anne on 9 September 2003.
 
A few that immediately spring to mind:-

• 1st April 1924: King George V and Queen Mary visited the London Zoo Aquarium
• 16th May 1967: Queen Elizabeth II opened the Charles Clore Pavilion at London Zoo
• 3rd June 1976: Queen Elizabeth II opened the New Lion Terraces at London Zoo
• 3rd June 1999: Queen Elizabeth II opened the Web of Life (now BUGS) at London Zoo

I’ll try to add details of some other occasions later.
 
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bongorob said:
I'm sure his father, Emperor Hirohito, visited London Zoo in 1972 but I can't find a reference.
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It was 1971; according to the ZSL Annual Report for that year he was made an Honorary Fellow "in recognition of his contributions to zoological sciences, particularly in the field of marine biology".
 
SMR said:
It might be worth clarifying whether you mean a head of state or a member of a royal family, since they're not the same thing. For example, The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are both members of the royal family, whereas only The Queen is the head of state.
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Very good point. I should've clarified. I mean any member of a royal family from the Queen (or King) downwards.
 
zooman64 said:
Very good point. I should've clarified. I mean any member of a royal family from the Queen (or King) downwards.
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There is a well-known zoo postcard of the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret watching a young Giant Panda(+ alsatian dog) at ZSL. Others may be able to supply the exact date.
 
I'm sure Rob will be able to remember (or dig up) the exact dates, all of these are Chester:

1970 - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
1989 - Diana, Princess of Wales
1991 - Duchess of Kent
1997 - Duke of York
2012 - The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

There have been other noble visitors, such as the Duke of Westminster, Lady Combermere, Lady Daresbury and Lord Leverhulme, but I don't think any are classed as members of the royal family.
 
zooman64 said:
Very good point. I should've clarified. I mean any member of a royal family from the Queen (or King) downwards.
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Now that you’ve confirmed you’re interested in visits by all Royal Family members and not just the Head of State:


  • 4th May 1972: The Duke of Edinburgh opened the Sobell Pavilions for Apes and Monkeys at London Zoo
 
Pertinax said:
There is a well-known zoo postcard of the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret watching a young Giant Panda(+ alsatian dog) at ZSL. Others may be able to supply the exact date.
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In addition to the well-known postcard featuring the two princesses with the giant panda ‘Ming’ there are a number of other postcards from the same era depicting the young princesses at London Zoo. I have the following:-

• Princess Elizabeth & Princess Margaret feeding an Asiatic elephant
• Princess Elizabeth & Princess Margaret riding in a llama cart
• Princess Margaret with a chimpanzee (two different postcards)
• Princess Elizabeth riding a pony in the Children’s Zoo
• Princess Margaret with a donkey in the Children’s Zoo
• Princess Margaret riding a pony in the Children’s Zoo

I suspect that there are several more but postcard dealers normally file these under ‘Royalty’ rather than ‘Zoos’ so zoo postcard collectors seldom encounter them when searching through a dealer's stock.
 
Royal visits to Chester.

1972 24th April The Duke of Edinburgh
1989 11th April The Princess of Wales
1991 17th May The Duchess of Kent
1997 6th October The Duke of York
2006 5 October The Duke of Kent
2012 17th May Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh

I was present for the 1989,1991,1997 and 2012 visits.

I met both the Duchess of Kent and The Duke of York.

The first three visits were enjoyable because members got close to the Royal party, unlike this year's Royal visit where members were kept well away from the official opening.
 
Tim May said:
Now that you’ve confirmed you’re interested in visits by all Royal Family members and not just the Head of State:


  • 4th May 1972: The Duke of Edinburgh opened the Sobell Pavilions for Apes and Monkeys at London Zoo
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I seem to remember he opened Gorilla Kingdom too. He
may have visited to open other exhibits too?

Princess Anne opened Life in the Trees at Marwell,about 2007? & i think the sign says she opened the lemur complex in early 90s too.
 
The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the new elephant house at Whipsnade in 1997. His daughter, the Princess Royal officially opened the new penguin exhibit at Edinburgh in 1992 and more recently the Bodongo Trail chimp house, she also gave her support to Edinburgh getting the two giant pandas. Edinburgh Zoo became the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland after a visit made by King George VI and his daughter Princess Margaret Rose,(unsure of year). The Duke of Edinburgh also visited Edinburgh Zoo last year, it was, I believe, intended for him to see the giant pandas, but at the time of his visit they had yet to arrive.Several unofficial visits were made by various members of the Royal family to Windsor Safari Park in its early years when under the ownership of the Smart family, who were no strangers to royalty when they toured their huge circus.
 
TARZAN said:
Edinburgh Zoo became the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland after a visit made by King George VI and his daughter Princess Margaret Rose,(unsure of year).
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In his book “The Story of Edinburgh Zoo” (1964) the zoo’s first director T. H. Gillespie reports that King George VI and Princess Margaret visited in 1946 and that the following year (i.e. 1947) the King granted the Society the privilege of being called the "The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland".

However, according to the Edinburgh Zoo website, the society was granted the "Royal" prefix in 1948.

Gillespie’s book also records that King George V and Queen Mary visited the zoo in July 1934.
 
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