When a young Queen Elizabeth II made her first visit to New York City in 1957, her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was by her side, arriving by Army ferry from Staten Island.
It wasn't a full day, but those 15 hours or so were packed with events. They included a ticker-tape parade up Broadway, a speech at the United Nations, dinner at the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and what many tourists, even royal tourists, do: a trip to the Empire State Building’s observation deck.
It was one of three visits that Queen Elizabeth II would make to the city accompanied by Philip.
Before she would return in 1976 to mark the bicentennial of the United States, Philip would visit on multiple occasions on his own. In 1960, he was here for the opening of a British Exhibition, in 1966 promoting the sale of British merchandise at the old Lord & Taylor Department Store, and three years later, presenting the Jockey Club Cup at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden.
The Prince took in some Broadway shows on some of his visits, and sampled some of the city’s cuisine offerings at restaurants like Benihana.
The Queen and Prince returned for a final time together in 2010 for a more solemn trip to the memorial to those lost in the September 11th terrorist attacks, and a visit to the British Garden in Hanover Square in the Financial District, a memorial to the 67 British subjects who died in the attacks.
Whether he was alongside the Queen or on his own trips as an in-demand speaker or through the charitable organizations he was associated with, Prince Philip certainly left his mark on this city across the pond from Buckingham Palace.