Local History

The Queen made her first ever visit to the city of Coventry back in 1948, when she was still Princess Elizabeth and now there's a chance to see rare film footage of the event.

On 22 May 1948, Princess Elizabeth visited Coventry to inaugurate the new civic scheme. She took the opportunity to visit a few of the city's main sights, learning about its economy and new buildings.

She was driven first to the War Memorial Park where she inspected the open air display of Coventry's export goods, including cars, aircraft and engineering products.

She then went on to Broadgate, where she declared the new Broadgate Green open by cutting a silk ribbon. Then came the main event of the day, when she gave a speech and laid the foundation stone of the new precinct shopping centre.

This was followed by a visit to the cathedral ruins.

The princess meets civic dignitaries

New optimism

The visit was amidst an air of new optimism in the city, as the end of the war brought an opportunity to redevelop. Coventry seized this chance and built Europe's first ever traffic-free shopping precinct.

It was a model example of modern building, removing old, cramped streets and providing shoppers with open, safe and convenient shopping area.

It was a truly pioneering design in 1948 and its influence can still be seen in many modern city centres today.

The speech 

Thousands of Coventry residents applauded Princess Elizabeth's speech. She said she was very glad to be opening the new Broadgate and said she would not dwell on the horror of the night in 1940 that destroyed much of the city.

She commented that it was strange that war brings the noblest instincts to the surface, unifying purpose and forgiveness. Elizabeth also thanked the representatives of Netherlands, who had given shrubs for the new development.

She also spoke about the national rebuilding scheme, stating her generation had a heavy responsibility to provide solutions with high quality materials and architecture. She said it was encouraging that Coventry was pressing forward, taking these problems into account. She said: "Let same spirit of enterprise be followed everywhere."