History is replete with several stories about how the late Queen Elizabeth II influenced the world within her 70 years as monarch, but even more significant is the fact that her humanity extended to everybody.
In this 1961 video shared by British Pathé on YouTube, it shows the moments the late queen and her late husband, Prince Philip, made their first journey to Ghana, during the presidency of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Ghana was only 4 years old as an independent country when the royal plane landed and, in the video, the excitement of the citizens who came out in their numbers to welcome the monarch is clearly seen.
As is heard by the narrator in the video, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, were 55 minutes late in their arrival, but not even that stole the unimaginable joys of the people.
In what was a visit that lasted more than two days, the Queen made sure to turn her direction to the Makola Market in Accra before she departed.
What a joy it was for the market women as they welcomed the queen to the market.
With their foodstuffs carefully and beautifully arranged on open-air tables, the women celebrated with the queen as she took walks through the market.
It may seem like it’s been 61 years since that visit, but on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the memories of how excited those market women, as well as all the other Ghanaians who beheld her visit, cannot be easily forgotten.
Watch the video below:
ghanaweb.com