After a historic 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, died at age 96 on September 8, 2022, in Scotland at Balmoral Castle. Her passing elevates her oldest son, Charles III, the oldest heir apparent in British history, to King.
Leaders around the globe pay tribute to the life of the Queen, who was the Head of the Commonwealth that spans 56 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific.
In Hong Kong, citizens saddened by the Queen’s passing flooded the British Consulate’s social media with messages of condolences and offered flowers outside the British Consulate. Though it has been 25 years since Britain handed over Hong Kong to China, a lot of British influences still exist in the city, which includes landmarks and venues named after the Queen.
Hong Kong venues named after Queen Elizabeth II
From 1841 to 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony before the city was returned to China after over 150 years. During her reign, the Queen visited Hong Kong twice, first in May 1975, followed by another trip in October 1986.
Her first visit to the city inspired the building of Queen Elizabeth Stadium, a sports facility on Morrison Hill in Wan Chai opened on August 27, 1980, by the longest-serving governor in Hong Kong's history, Governor Sir Murray MacLehose.
Before she visited the city, two venues named after the monarch were already established in Hong Kong. The first was Queen Elizabeth School at Sai Yee Street in Mong Kok, which was conceived in 1953, the same year of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. The school was opened in 1954 as the first government co-educational Anglo-Chinese secondary school in the city.
The other venue is Queen Elizabeth Hospital, one of the largest acute general hospitals in the city, located at Gascoigne Road in Yau Ma Tei. On March 7, 1959, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, laid the foundation stone of the hospital during his first official visit in Hong Kong as the husband of Queen Elizabeth. The hospital opened on September 6, 1963, by then-Governor of Hong Kong, Robert Black.
The royal visit
On her first trip to the city, the Queen and Prince Philip visited many locations during the four-day visit, such as Queen’s Pier, Hong Kong City Hall, Graham Street, Morse Park, Oi Man Estate in Ho Man Tin, Hung Hom station, the University of Hong Kong, the Kwai Chung container port, Tsuen Wan’s industrial areas, and the Happy Valley racecourse. They also enjoyed the city’s first firework display since the 1967 riots before leaving for Japan on the morning of May 7.
Following her visit to China as the first British monarch to visit the country, The Queen paid a visit to Hong Kong in October 1986 aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. After arriving in the city, the Queen rode through Salisbury and Chatham Roads while greeting crowds before visiting Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Coliseum. She also visited The Cenotaph, Legislative Council Complex, HSBC Main Building, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Sha Tin racecourse, and Lung Hang Estate in Sha Tin.
Her last visit was two years after the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in 1984, which paved the way for the 1997 handover. Queen Elizabeth II visited many countries over her 70-year reign, and her last visit to Asia was in 2006, when she was hosted by President S.R. Nathan in Singapore.
Recommended stories:
The Queen has died at the age of 96
Unusual things that will happen in London when the Queen dies
Follow us on Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram, and subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest news and updates on what's going on in the city.