Long before her Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth — and other high-flyers — stayed at an Austin Hotel
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Every time something fresh about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II pops up in the news, Austinites break out their tales of when the British monarch visited the city in 1991.
This week, the queen, her subjects and global well-wishers toast her Platinum Jubilee, which, with all the pomp and circumstance the royals can muster, heralds her 70 years as head of state. She is the first British monarch to reach that landmark.
Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI. Along with Prince Phillip and a substantial retinue, she visited Texas in May 1991.
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The following breezy article, abbreviated and updated, about the top celebrities who had stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel on Lady Bird Lake over the years, first on ran March 19, 2017, when "The Crown," the British TV series about the queen's life, was all the rage:
The Austin hotel staff lined up for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth''s arrival and the women curtsied. Executive assistant Missy Kreisle remembers that when she checked in, the British equivalent of the Secret Service told her to move Elizabeth R to a different room for a better view of what would later be known as Lady Bird Lake.
The queen and former U.S. first lady joined Gov. Ann Richards for a formal dinner at the LBJ Presidential Library.
“Chef Elmar Prambs said he also remembers ‘cooking’ for the queen,” our Four Seasons correspondent Kerri Sholly shares. “In quotes, because all she wanted was a ham sandwich with the crust removed.”
More top celebrities at the hotel
The queen was not alone.
As the venerable luxury hotel celebrates its 30th anniversary, we dug into its pictures and stories about other high-flying guesets. U.S. Presidents have included Presidents George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush, as well as Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, although the latter two did not spend the night.
The hotel has hosted other royalty and heads of state from Saudi Arabia, Spain and Australia. Two who surely appreciated the full-size beds: Former British Prime Minister John Major (6 feet) and former Mexican President Vincente Fox (6 feet, 4 inches).
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Sports legends Willie Mays, Pete Rose and Joe DiMaggio rested their weary frames here, as did Hollywood luminaries Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, Rod Steiger, Robert DeNiro, Robert Duvall and Debbie Reynolds.
The media were represented by Walter Cronkite, Jim Lehrer, Mike Wallace and Rupert Murdoch — a more-frequent but extremely quiet visitor to our town during his courtship of Texas model and actress Jerry Hall.
Authors Gay Talese, Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer and David McCullough slept here, as did the Dalai Lama.
Which leaves one wondering: What’s an appropriate tip from His Holiness?
Michael Barnes writes about the people, places, culture and history of Austin and Texas. He can be reached at mbarnes@statesman.com.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Long before her Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth visited Austin
