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Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru - Ymweliad Elizabeth II a Duc Caeredyn Awst 8, 1955

The Queen visits Aberystwyth to celebrate completion of The National Library of Wales, opened by her parents in 1937, its foundation stones laid by her grandparents in 1911.

Home movie 1955 13 mins Silent

CC

From the collection of:

Logo for National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales

Overview

The Queen, on her first visit to mid Wales since her coronation, visits The National Library of Wales to open the finished building, the foundation stones having been laid by her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, in 1911 and the institution officially opened by her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, in 1937. She arrives and departs in colour but the actual ceremony, in the Reading Room, is a monochrome affair.

Filmed by an accountant employed at The National Library of Wales, there are shots of a Welsh-costumed little girl, Meg Elis, daughter of a couple who worked at the Library, presenting the Queen with a bouquet. The Queen visited the Library again in 1996 when she opened the new, third building but the intended visit to the town’s adjoining university campus on the same day was cancelled when Welsh language activists, including a now middle-aged Meg Elis, protested against the royal visit as the Queen was being driven away from the Library.

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