The Queen with the Swedish King for the Stockholm Equestrian Olympic events in 1956
by Philip Barker
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have stood in silent tribute at their meeting in Lausanne in honour of Queen Elizabeth II who died on Thursday.
The Union Flag and the Olympic Flag both flew at half-mast as a mark of respect for The Queen.
“With the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we have lost a great supporter of sport and the Olympic Movement,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.
“Whenever one could see her attending a sports event, you could feel her appreciation of sport and how much joy it brought her. She was herself an accomplished equestrian.”
She became Queen in 1952, a few days before the Oslo Winter Olympics, where the flags were lowered to half-mast in tribute to her late father King George VI.
She did not travel to Australia to open the 1956 Games; that duty was instead carried out by Prince Philip, but she later became the only head of state to open Olympic Games in two different countries and two languages.
In 1976, she opened the Olympics in Montreal.
This was done at the invitation of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
She made the proclamation in both French and English.
The Queen was a keen supporter of the London 2012 candidacy and hosted members of the IOC Evaluation Commission at Buckingham Palace in the months before the vote in Singapore.
In 2012, she welcomed the IOC back to the Palace in the days before the Games began.
Her sense of fun was revealed when she agreed to participate in a filmed sequence with actor Daniel Craig, best known for playing James Bond.
Many were astonished that it really was Queen Elizabeth II who uttered the immortal line, “good evening, Mr. Bond.”
Then joined by her beloved corgis, she walked with Craig along the corridors of the Palace.
The pair were then filmed boarding a helicopter for a ride across London.
They were waved over the houses of Parliament by the statue of Sir Winston Churchill, her first Prime Minister from 1952.
The helicopter circled the Olympic Stadium before two parachutists leapt out, one wearing a pink dress.
At the very instant they landed, Queen Elizabeth II made her entry into the Royal Box with perfect timing.
She was wearing an identical pink dress to the parachute stuntman and had apparently kept the whole thing a secret from other members of her family.
“This enjoyment of sport and her wonderful sense of humour were clearly represented in her appearance at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games London 2012, where her participation in the world-famous video sketch will be remembered fondly by everyone who saw it,” Bach continued.
She had also worn pink when she opened the Montreal Games.
In 1976, she had seen her daughter Princess Anne compete in equestrian eventing, and in 2012 watched her granddaughter Zara win silver in the team event.
She could also, with some justification, claim to be an Olympic gold medal winner herself.
In 1956 Bertie Hill rode her horse Countryman as part of the gold medal winning Great Britain eventing team.
That year, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm and The Queen was the guest of the Swedish King and rode with him in an open carriage to the Opening Ceremony.
The Queen also opened the 1991 IOC session in Birmingham where two future Presidents were elected.
Both Jacques Rogge and Thomas Bach were co-opted at the session.
The Queen had joked “Happily I shall be in a good position to receive a first-hand report,” a reference to her daughter the Princess Royal who had become an IOC member.
She was patron of the British Olympic Association (BOA).
Chairman Sir Hugh Robertson also paid tribute.
“As patron of the BOA, her support for the Olympic Movement in this country and, in particular, the London 2012 Olympic Games cannot be underestimated and shall never be forgotten,” he said.
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