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Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip visited the Florida Keys in 1991

Trip included touring Dry Tortugas National Park, Fort Jefferson
On May 18, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson, 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, on the royal yacht.
Posted at 4:12 PM, Sep 08, 2022
and last updated 2022-09-08 17:18:20-04

KEY WEST, Fla. — Queen Elizabeth II died Thursday at the age of 96 after reigning for 70 years as Britain's monarch.

During her seven decades on the throne, she took five trips to the United States.

This included a visit to Florida in 1991 where she visited Miami, the Florida Keys and Tampa. It was part of a 13-day trip where she also visited Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Texas and Kentucky.

On May 18, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson, 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, on the royal yacht.
On May 18, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson, 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, on the royal yacht.

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Her trip to South Florida with her husband, Prince Philip, included a visit on the royal yacht to Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson, located 70 miles west of Key West.

"This was a big thing back then. The queen visiting Florida for the first time," Bill Becker, the retired news director of US 1 Radio News, told WPTV. "She stopped in Miami. The royal yacht went there, and then the weekend came and she took the royal yacht and sailed down to the Dry Tortugas."

The royals' visit to the Keys came on May 18, 1991.

On May 18, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson, 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, on the royal yacht.
On May 18, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson, 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, on the royal yacht.

While at the national park, the queen was welcomed by the late Florida Keys Mayor Wilhelmina Harvey, according to the Florida Keys News Bureau.

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During the queen's visit, Harvey presented the queen with a conch shell, the iconic symbol of the Florida Keys.

Following her visit to the Florida Keys, she and Prince Philip traveled to Tampa on the royal yacht where they visited MacDill Air Force Base, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times.