Queen's visit to Maldives: an unprecedented event

"It was an extraordinary event in those times. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before," said former minister Abdulla Kamaluddin.

He was referring to March 13, 1972, the day Queen Elizabeth arrived in Male. The residents prepared in gusto for her arrival. The people of Male took to the streets to see the royal couple, and gathered in the areas where various activities were held in the queen’s honour.

"Never before, and for many years after, Maldives had not been visited by someone of her calibre," Kamaluddin said.

"So it was something new for Maldivians, and for the government as well".

It was during the second republic established in the Maldives in 1968, the first term of President Ibrahim Nasir. It was six years since the Maldives gained independence from the British.

Maldivians were not familiar with visits from foreign leaders and dignitaries at the time. The Maldives was one of the destinations of the queen's one-month trip to Southeast Asia. Maldives was the first stop of the royal yacht Brittania on its tour across the Indian Ocean, as was reported by the New York Times on 14 March 1972.

The Queen and her husband, Prince Consort Philip, arrived in the Maldives on riyal yacht Brittania. They docked the yacht at Male harbour, which was known as the ‘Bodu Faalan’ at the time, further away from the official harbour seen today, and disembarked from that point. The harbour was later demolished and rebuilt to be aligned with Boduthakurufaanu Magu in 1975.

In addition to Male, the queen also visited the southernmost Addu, which previously hosted a Royal Air Force (RAF) base. She was received with warm welcome from Addu. She also met and spoke with the people of Addu.

Kamaluddin relayed that the people of Male worked hard in preparation for Her Majesty’s visit. The government charged the then electrical department with the responsibility of decorating Male, and additional work of the construction and decoration of the pavilions were carried out via Billoorijehige; which at the time housed institutions such as the media council and the broadcasting commission equivalents of today.

Kamaluddin and former President Mohamed Waheed were graduates of the O-Level batch from Majeediyya in January 1972. Kamaluddin was unemployed at the time, and he, along with students studying in Majeediyya School's grade 10 as well as the batch that graduated before him took part in the preparation.

"It was a lot of hard work, done with so much spirit. A lot of people contributed," Kamaluddin said.

Various activities were held in honour of the Queen at the then national stadium, Henveiru Football Stadium. Maldivian traditional activities and culture were exhibited for the queen, such as the art of cutting and cleaning fish, the various cooking processes of the time, and ancient boat building techniques; they were all put on display for the queen’s perusal.

"People gathered on the streets of Male' with flags. I also saw that people from the islands had also come to the capital to catch a glimpse of the Queen," Kamaluddin said.

The queen was a young woman at the time, only 46 years old. The government's representative, assigned as her aide during the visit was Ahmed Zaki, the then foreign minister who would later become prime minister. He was one of the few people who spoke fluent English.

The queen was the first foreign sovereign to visit the Maldives on an official visit in the country's recorded history. Therefore, the Maldivian people have a lot of love and gratitude for her. Meeting her is an opportunity very few are granted. Except for the people who met with the queen during her 1972 visit to the Maldives, very few Maldivians have had the pleasure of an audience with her since.

“The entire event was very well organised by the government of the time," Kamaluddin said.