A Royal Visit to Remember and an Exciting Platinum Jubilee
Published on
Friday, May 27, 2022
In June 2022, Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch to celebrate 70 years of service at her Platinum Jubilee. Up and down the country and around the world street parties, tea parties and get togethers with loved ones will be held in recognition of this momentous occasion.
Here at Mersey Ferries, we’ve been busily planning our own Platinum Jubilee Celebrations with live commentary on select River Explorer Cruises, specially themed menus at Café Cross the Mersey, giveaway flags for the kids, a bank holiday Evening Cruise with Callum Mac and we’ve been dusting off the bunting ready to dress the ferry and terminals especially for the occasion.
With all the excitement about the forthcoming four-day bank holiday weekend, we also wanted to look back and remember The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’s visit during The Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.
In June 1977, the royal couple stepped aboard the world-famous Mersey Ferry and took a cruise along the River Mersey. The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh were treated to breath-taking views of the Liverpool and Wirral skylines and met several members of the Mersey Ferries' team that day including Captain James McWilliam.
Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Captain James McWilliam and Chief Executive Mr Thomas, pictured on the Mersey Ferry during the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.
We love hearing all about how the ferry has played a role in your family history, so we were excited to hear from Captain James McWilliam’s family about what that day meant to him and his Wife Georgina.
Captain McWilliam’s Grandson Paul explained:
My Grandad was a well-respected Mersey Ferries Captain and I know that he was very proud to have been Captain of the Royal Iris and especially to have met The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. All the photographs of the royal visit were framed on the walls of my grandparents’ home to show how much of an honour it was and what the day meant to them. My grandmother was invited on the ferry that day too and got to enjoy the royal visit alongside my grandfather.
It was an amazing day for the family, and we still talk about the visit to this day. We are incredibly proud of him and there’s not a day that goes by that we don’t wish my grandfather and grandmother were still here to tell us all about that day.
Captain McWilliam and his Wife Georgina have both sadly passed away, so we wanted to take a moment to remember our dedicated Captain and his Wife and thank his family for sharing this story with us.
This Platinum Jubilee let’s raise a toast to Her Majesty’s incredible achievement and her 70 years of tireless duty, spend time with the ones we love and make lots of unforgettable memories together.
We look forward to hearing how you celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and can’t wait for you to join us on board the ferry to make lots of special memories.
Don’t forget to share some photos of your Platinum Jubilee celebrations on the ferry with us on social media or send them to: [email protected]
We hope you have a wonderful bank holiday weekend!
Image 1 of 3