British State Visit to Austria, 1969

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have just finished their 2-day visit to Austria. Click HERE for Day 1 and HERE for Day 2, so in honour of their visit, we are flashing back to the Queen’s State Visit to Austria in 1969, which was her first visit to the alpine nation.

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The Queen, Duke, and Princess Anne were greeted by Austrian President Franz Jonas at Vienna Airport, and met dignitaries. Afterwards, the couple drove through the city of Vienna, and knocked over a photographer.

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Later, the Queen and Duke met members of the Austrian Parliament. They also visited the Spanish Riding School, where the Queen was gifted two ponies, and they also watched a Horse show.

In the evening, Austrian President Franz Jonas hosted a glittering Gala Reception in honour of the Queen (wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara with the Godman Necklace) and Duke of Edinburgh at the splendid Schonbrunn Palace.

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On one of the evenings, the Queen (wearing the Vladimir Tiara and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace) and Duke of Edinburgh attended a splendid Gala Performance at the State Opera House in Vienna.

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On the final evening, the Queen (in the Girls of Great Britain & Ireland Tiara), Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Anne (wearing Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara) hosted a Return Banquet for the Austrian President and Government at the British Embassy in Vienna.

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2 thoughts on “British State Visit to Austria, 1969

  1. In 1969, I was on a gap year in Vienna, learning German. To my great surprise, I was invited to be in the group of UK nationals to meet the Queen, Prince Philip and Princess Ann. As I had recently completed my Gold DofE, I was in the line up to meet and speak with Princess Anne, who was just a few months older than me – also born in 1950. However, both the Queen and the Prince stopped to speak with me as well as Anne, so afterwards the other guests asked ‘Who are you that all the Royals stopped to speak with you!’ I remember that a Viennese Walz was being played by a local orchestra at the time and I very cheekily, without having been briefed about royal protocol, asked the Queen for a Dance! She smiled and said it would be nice! But we did not dance! Also the Prince asked me what I was doing in Vienna and I said ‘I am working as a Land Surveyor’s assistant to see the country’. His apt reply was ‘That sounds to me like the misuse of a Theodolite.’

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