British Royal couple pays visit to the High Tatras

The British Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip spent the second day of their state visit in the High Tatras.

In front of the Grand Hotel, the special guests were welcomed by thousands of “people of the Tatras” just as warmly as in Bratislava.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh admired the High Tatras and their beauty from Hrebienok, where they were accompanied by the Presidential couple and taken on a new funicular railway. Unfortunately, the weather was not much in favour of letting the Royal couple see our most beautiful mountains.

During the ride, the guests were informed of a disastrous calamity which struck the Tatras in 2004. Again, many people were waiting for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Hrebienok – foresters, skiers dressed in historic costumes, mountain guides and rescuers, load porters, as well as athletes. Additional information was also provided by the mayor of Výsoké Tatry Ján Mokoš.
Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a memorial plaque at the beginning of a wheel-chair accessible tourist pathway built within the project entitled “Tatras Without Barriers.”

The programme of the visit continued in Spišská Sobota, where the guests saw St. George’s Church, its holy grave, as well as the historical wooden altar of Master Paul of Levoča. At the square, they visited a traditional market, where they observed demonstrations of folk arts and crafts, and a performance by a folklore group.

Within a separate programme of the Slovak President’s wife and Prince Philip, the royal guest planted a tree as a symbol of the renewal of the Tatras forest that was destroyed by a windstorm and attended an environmental conference on the environment organized by the Tatra School of Regional Development.

After viewing the recreational resort AquaCity in Poprad, the guests moved on to the ice stadium in Poprad where they met with Slovak Olympic medal winner, the canoeist Michal Martikán, and British Olympic medal winner David Florence.

The British Queen and President Ivan Gašparovič symbolically dropped the puck and opened an exhibition match between the local Aquacity ŠKP Poprad ice hockey team and the English Guildford Flames ice hockey team.

According to Ivan Gašparovič, at the end of the trip, Queen Elizabeth II expressed great satisfaction with the visit and, in Prince Philip’s words, they enjoyed their stay in Slovakia very much.

The wife of the President, Silvia Gašparovičova, said that during the talks with the British Queen they had also discussed involvement in health and charity organizations. “The Queen is president of many healthcare and charity organizations. Therefore, she works very much and mentioned that she was doing a lot for the healthcare. On the website in the section regarding my activities, she noticed that I also dedicated a significant amount of time to this field. That is why we had common interests to talk about,” First Lady Mrs. Silvia Gašparovičová said.