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In April 1980, Queen Elizabeth II made a state visit to Switzerland. Federal President Georges-André Chevallaz provided a topic of conversation at the military honors.
The Queen was received by the Federal Council in corpore in Zurich: “When Her Majesty reviewed the guard of honor and did not know where to go, (Mr. Chevallaz) turned them with a sudden movement of the hand.” What a sacrilege this is, wrote the French-speaking Swiss weekly “L’Illustré”. In the Commonwealth, heads were cut off for less. The Queen then visited Bern, Basel, Lausanne, Montreux, Lucerne and the Rütli with her husband Prince Philip.
Queen Elizabeth II met Federal Presidents Flavio Cotti and Samuel Schmid in London in 1998 and 2005. The latter spoke to the Queen for around 20 minutes and was very impressed by his interlocutor, who knew Switzerland well.
At the end of July 2012, then Federal President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. Before the pompous celebration, the Federal President had the opportunity to chat with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. They talked about Klosters, where the royal family often vacations. The Queen also asked her where the Swiss medal hopes lay.
Legend:
Federal President Ignazio Cassis and his wife visiting Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle (April 28, 2022).
Keystone/Dominic Lipinski/Pool Photo via AP
The last Swiss guest this year was Federal President Ignazio Cassis. He had traveled to London in April for talks on a free trade agreement. After his political talks with the Prime Minister, he felt “very honored to have been received by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II”.
awards and nobility
Other Swiss also met the ruler, such as the chef Anton Mosimann, who had cooked for her on the occasion of the diamond jubilee in 2012 and for the wedding banquet of Prince William and Princess Kate in 2011. The Bernese from Nidau was awarded the “Order of the British Empire” (OBE).
Legend:
Swiss chef Anton Mosimann is awarded the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty the Queen on June 22, 2004 at Buckingham Palace in London.
KEYSTONE/HANDOUT
The OBE was also awarded to the Geneva lawyer Antoine Böhler, who was made an honorary officer in 2004 for having worked for the Crown for 20 years as legal adviser to the British Mission and the Consulate General in Geneva.
The OBE was also awarded to figure skater Arnold Gerschwiler in 1997. In 1965 the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who became Swiss in 1970, was awarded the rank of honorary commander. In 1993 he was knighted by the Queen. The British Sarah Springman, who was rector of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich until the beginning of the year, received this award in 2012 as a triathlete.
Sons tour Switzerland
Queen Elizabeth II has officially never vacationed in Switzerland, unlike Queen Victoria in the 19th century. After her visit to Switzerland in 1980, she told the “Schweizer Illustrierte” that she was really looking forward to it. The only reason she has probably never been here is because after the war “it was too late for me to learn to ski”.
Her successor, on the other hand, has long been a regular on the Grisons ski slopes: Prince Charles has a chalet in Klosters, where he was often seen with his two children, William and Harry. And Prince Andrew has owned a chalet in Verbier VS since 2014.