Remembering
Queen Elizabeth II

"It all began during her first visit in 1992, where she inaugurated the University's Centre for Satellite Engineering Research.

"She elevated the earlier 'UoSAT Unit' to a recognised research centre. During that visit, she observed some of our earliest Earth observation images in our ground station."

The Queen returned to Guildford six years later to once again visit the Surrey Space Centre, this time with His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.  

During her visit, The Queen presented Professor Sir Martin Sweeting with The Queen's Award for Technological Achievement for his pioneering work on small satellites. In return, she received a model of one of Surrey's microsatellites.

"On a number of other occasions, both at the Palace and receptions overseas, The Queen immediately recalled our satellite work at Surrey – it had clearly made an impression on her," recollected Professor Sir Martin Sweeting as he reflected on his interactions with Her Majesty throughout his career.

"Despite the formality of such occasions, she always put you at ease and had a quick sense of humour."

"I, along with my family, arrived at the University of Surrey on August 29th 1997, to start my MSc and PhD at the School of Mechanical Engineering Sciences under the supervision of Professor Stephen Ogin," said Carlos Rolando Rios-Soberanis, a member of our alumni community in Mexico.

"On December 11th 1998, we were blessed to be part of the second visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the University of Surrey.

"It was a cold morning, and we were among the students waiting for Her Majesty's arrival. The moment we saw her, it was like a dream, a beautiful smiling lady waving at us.

"Just by her side, her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, a good-looking gentleman, also saluted the people who had gathered for that special visit.

"Some 23 years have passed, and my family still remembers that amazing episode."

Queen Elizabeth II's most recent visit to the University was in 2015 when she officially opened our School of Veterinary Medicine - the UK’s newest vet school and only the second to open in the UK in over 50 years.

Accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II toured the Large Animal Clinical Skills Building, meeting students undertaking equine examinations and working with livestock.  

"It was a real career high for me to be involved in the planning and delivery of The Queen's visit to open our new School of Veterinary Medicine," remembers Sam Jones, now Head of Events at the University.

"There are so many fabulous memories from the day, but one stands out. We'd arranged for livestock and horses to be in the clinical skills building.

"Unbeknown to us, one of the mares used to live in the Buckingham Palace stables."

"The Queen recognised her straight away as 'homebred' and turned to The Duke of Edinburgh to exclaim: 'It's Mary Tudor!'" Sam remembered fondly. "The Duke commented on how well Mary Tudor looked for her age."

Mary Tudor lived in the Buckingham Palace stables for 16 years until she retired and found a home at The Horse Trust in Speen, Bucks.

Another member of our alumni community recalls vivid memories from the day. Holly Boothroyd, who has since gone on to work for Microsoft, wrote about the visit at the time. She said:

"I got up early this morning so that I would be right at the front of the barrier. I wanted the best view. It was chilly, but we managed to keep ourselves warm enough through our anticipation. We were given flags and I was ready to show some British pride. There was lots of flag waving and cheering. It was so cool to actually see The Queen with my own eyes!"