Queen Elizabeth once visited Ronald Reagan on Central Coast. See photos from her historic stop
Americans have a fascination with the British monarchy, even if we don’t accept their authority.
There seems to be an inexhaustible appetite for costume dramas on television and movies set in the United Kingdom. Is it the pageantry, the history or just the posh accent?
As English comedian and television host John Oliver joked in a 2010 interview on the NPR show “Fresh Air,” “You still can’t help but respect the authority of this voice.”
Queen Elizabeth II, who died Thursday at age 96, held a particular fascination for the American public over the course of her 70-year reign as ruler of the UK — encompassing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — and 14 other sovereign countries. Her eldest son and heir, Charles, will succeed her on the throne.
In March 1983, Queen Elizabeth and her husband and royal consort, Prince Philip, toured California during a visit that included a stop in Sacramento.
Although the route followed by the royal party retraced the route by Sir Francis Drake, who claimed California as Nova Albion for the crown, an Los Angeles Times story said the queen put the former colonists’ concerns to rest.
She said to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley: “I am happy, though, to give you an immediate assurance, Mr. Mayor, that I have not come here to press that claim.”
Unfortunately, the royals’ trip was made during an epic storm season that heavily damaged piers.
A planned yacht trip turned into a series of flights to various stops in the state, including Yosemite National Park and then-President Ronald Reagan’s Santa Barbara ranch.
Telegram-Tribune city editor Jeff Fairbanks, later the publication’s editor, drove to Santa Barbara to take pictures and write this March 2, 1983, story.
Rain doesn’t stop royalty
Queen Elizabeth II brightened an otherwise dreary day Tuesday on the Central Coast.
On her historic first visit to Santa Barbara, thousands braved cold rain to get a glimpse of her at the Santa Barbara Airport, Courthouse and Mission.
But what promised to be a festive occasion for her scheduled landing at Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf was washed out by a persistent rainstorm.
Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip left the royal yacht Britannia in Long Beach and flew instead on an Air Force DC-9 and spent six hours in Reagan’s home town.
The improvised arrival was shifted to a large Tracor Aviation hangar at the airport.
The meeting between the two heads of states was witnessed by only about 300 spectators — mostly scouts and Tracor employees.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan arrived from their ranch led by a CHP car and followed by a station wagon full of Secret Service agents.
After a few minutes inside the hangar, the president and his wife spent 15 minutes mingling with the crowd. This was the first time Reagan worked an open crowd since the assassination attempt nearly two years ago.
Reagan’s limousine — with engine running and doors open — prowled no more than 10 feet away from him at all times.
He waved to the press corps of 150 but declined a shout of “Let’s talk.”
Even a president’s accommodations aren’t always first class: he retired for 15 minutes to a Tracor 10- by 20-foot office that jutted into the huge hangar. The office windows were covered with paper.
The queen’s arrival was simple but quite noisy.
The Air Force jet roared down the runway, turned and nosed into the hangar, its engines screaming.
The pilot was motioned to edge forward another 8 feet so the plane door would line up exactly with the red carpet.
As soon as the engines stopped whining, the door popped open and two military officers preceded Queen Elizabeth down the ramp.
A spontaneous cheer broke out, an Air Force band played and a six-cannon Army squadron blasted a 21-gun salute across a grassy field.
The Reagans greeted the royal couple and then all took prearranged places along the red carpet bordered by a color guard of 20 men with drawn bayonets.
The band played “God Save the Queen” and the “Star Spangled Banner” — the sound reverberating through the hangar. Then the queen was off for the Courthouse.
There the planned half-hour tour and ceremony was cut in half. She received gifts from the city and the county and unveiled a large tile commemorating her visit.
From there he motorcade sped through flag-decked streets to Highway 101 and the Reagan’s 688-acre Rancho del Cielo.
The parties had to use four-wheel drive vehicles to ford swollen crossings of Refugio Creek.
A horse ride at the ranch was scrubbed even though it wasn’t raining at the time. Lunch was enchiladas, chile rellenos, refried beans, tacos, rice, guacamole and fresh fruit.
The queen’s press secretary, Michael O’Shea, said she found the rugged trip through flooded creeks up the mountain “very enjoyable and very exciting.” O’Shea added: “It gets almost as bad as this in England.”
The largest turnout for the queen was at the 197-year-old Mission where thousands got a cold, hour soaking just before she arrived.
Long cheers and ringing of the Mission bells heralded the queen’s arrival.
Accompanied by Nancy Reagan and Prince Phillip, the queen made a whirlwind tour. She threw three spadefuls of dirt on a palm tree in the Mission garden and viewed centuries-old books in the library.
There were hundreds of Union Jacks of various sizes waved by the patient spectators. There also was a smattering of protest signs.
Entrepreneurs were selling flags and also T-shirts for $10, depicting Reagan atop a horse lassoing the queen aboard her yacht.
The royal couple flew back to the Britannia in Long Beach harbor Tuesday evening. Plans to stem past San Luis Obispo County for an early arrival Thursday under the Golden Gate Bridge were changed. They will fly today to San Francisco.
This story was originally published November 14, 2020 at 5:05 AM.
