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photo released, Getty Images
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Some have criticized the queen for waiting 8 days after the Aberfan tragedy before visiting the village
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Queen Elizabeth II witnessed countless tragedies around the world during her 70 years on the throne.
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But there was a tragedy in a small mining village in South Wales that he never forgot. In fact, his reaction to the Aberfan disaster was said to have been one of the biggest regrets of his tenure.
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116 children and 28 adults were killed when the tip of a coal mine (scrap coal mountain) on a cliff above the village of Aberfan collapsed due to rain causing water to accumulate within the rim and suddenly slipped, disastrously invading an elementary school and neighboring houses on 21 October 1966.
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While Prince Philip, Lord Snowdon and then Prime Minister Harold Wilson visited the scene the next day, the Queen waited eight days before traveling to the village near Merthyr Tydfil to comfort the local community shortly after a mass funeral.
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Her late arrival in Aberfan sparked some criticism, and the late Lord Charteris, the Queen’s former private secretary, said years after the incident that he felt he had given her bad advice.
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“We told her to stay away from Aberfan until the first shock passed,” she said, adding that that was the most deplorable thing she had in her day.
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The mountain of coal waste slid towards Panglas Primary School moments after the children arrived
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But for those who were mourning in the village, there was nothing but love and respect for the Queen who they felt had helped them in their darkest moment.
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“It was not appropriate for her to come to Aberfan immediately after the accident,” said Jeff Edwards, the last child rescued from the school whom the Queen has always called the “little blond boy”.
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He went on to say, “The problem with any real visit is that you have an entourage taking the lead while the salvage work was still in progress, so his presence earlier would have added to the general confusion.”
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She added that the tragedy clearly hit her and shook her at the touch of those who saw her walking from the cemeteries to a neighborhood house.
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Edwards, who served as the mayor and independent mayor of Merthyr Tydfil, added: “When the queen entered that house, she was really sad and had to recover before continuing to meet relatives and families who had lost their children. and relatives “.
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The queen headed for Moi Road, the road leading to Panglas Elementary School, where her bereaved parents had gathered to meet her.
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photo released, POPE
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Queen’s website at Panglas Primary School
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“She met and talked to us and I didn’t really think of her as a queen,” said Mary Morse.
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“You could see she was very emotional, you can see she really cared,” recalls Marilyn Brown, whose daughter Janet died in the accident when she was 10.
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The queen met the victims’ parents while in Aberfan in 1966
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At that time, the queen had two eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, but also two very young children as Edoardo was only two years old and Andrew 6, the same age as many of the children who died.
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“For me that day, she didn’t come as a queen, our queen, she came as a mother to empathize and appreciate what everyone experienced that day,” added Denise Morgan.
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Marjorie Collins, whose 8-year-old son Anthony Wayne died in the tragedy, said the Queen’s visit helped the local community more than anything else.
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“They were above politics and hype and showed us that the world is with us and that the world cares,” he added.
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photo released, POPE
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A frenzied effort was made to try and rescue the children trapped in the school
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Cardiff-born journalist Brian Hoy who covered the Aberfan disaster told BBC Wales that the international media was there to film the moment.
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She added: “I couldn’t believe how understanding she was, I knew it would be because she had young children at the time, Andrew and Edward were still young children and she made her feel for the parents who were there.”
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“But she was so wonderful and they talked to her, asked her questions and told her how they felt and it was so good to see it,” she said.
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The queen had young children when she visited Aberfan
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The queen’s relationship with Aberfan continued throughout her reign.
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Eileen Richards, who lost her 9-year-old daughter Sylvia in the tragedy, said the Queen promised her to return to open the new school when it is built.
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I kept that promise and went to visit the village 3 more times.
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Jeff Edwards greets the Queen upon her arrival in Aberfan in 2012 to open a new elementary school
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In fact, whenever he was in the area, his thoughts turned to Aberfan.
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When he was on an official visit to Merthyr Tydfil in 1997, he asked how far the village was.
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When told the village was only a mile away, Edwards said, she insisted that a visit to Abervan be included in the itinerary.
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At the time, there was outrage that the Aberfan Disaster Fund, set up to help grieving families, had been raided by the government to pay for the removal of the remaining limbs from the mine that overlooked the village.
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The National Coal Board, held responsible for the disaster, refused to pay for the removal.
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Edwards added: “This visit was instrumental in bringing back to the fund the £ 150,000 that had been withdrawn from the Aberfan Emergency Fund to pay for the removal of the mine tips.”
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The Queen with (left to right) Marjorie Collins, Gillen Morgan and Jane Gogh, who lost all their children in the disaster
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The Queen’s last visit to Aberfan dates back to 2012, when she opened a new school for the village’s children, the Yenisowen Primary School.
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“She was very involved in how the visit was supposed to go,” Edwards recalls.
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He added: “He wanted the kids to see the real car, so he decided it would come by car and he also wanted the kids to see the helicopter, which was the way he wanted to leave.”
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The queen insisted on leaving school by helicopter
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“It was raining in the weeks before and officials said you couldn’t leave by helicopter because it could end up in mud,” he said, but she insisted: “I want the kids to see the helicopter.”
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The helicopter arrived equipped with sleds to prevent it from sinking into the mud.
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“When the queen got on the helicopter, it was raining and it was a bit windy, the helicopter was going backwards and the tail was going straight to the rugby field pole, we were all frantically pointing and waving her forward”, Edwards said. The dust made everyone come back, it was very exciting and the kids definitely saw the helicopter. “
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School children in Aberfan greet the queen, who has left by helicopter
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Journalist Brian Hoy, who has written several books on the royal family, summarized the Queen’s relationship with the small Welsh mining village: “The queen’s best moments in Wales were also her saddest.”
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Edwards added: “Aberfan is a small mining community with a population between 3,000 and 4,000, and I think no place in the UK can say it has had such a close relationship with it.”
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As the Queen herself said in a personal letter read by Prince Charles to the local community on the 50th anniversary of the disaster: “I remember very well my private visit to Prince Philip after the disaster and the flowers he gave me a little girl carrying a card with the heartbreaking phrase ‘from the remaining Aberfan children’ “.
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In his letter he added: “Since then we have returned on numerous occasions, and we have always been deeply moved by the strength of mind, dignity and indomitable spirit that characterize the inhabitants of this town and the surrounding valleys.
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“On this sad anniversary, I send my best wishes to all of you. Elizabeth R.”
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