The city is set to give Queen Elizabeth the royal treatment on Tuesday. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will address the U.N. General Assembly, her first speech there in more than 50 years. The British monarch, who would be accompanied by her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, will also visit Ground Zero of the World Trade Center, where she would lay wreath in memory of the victims of September 11, 2001 terrorists attack.
She will also meet with relatives of the victims as well as representatives of the police and fire crews who responded to the attack, where Islamist hijackers crashed two airliners into the Twin Towers, killing almost 3,000 people.
While in New York, the 84-year-old monarch also is to formally open the British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square New York in lower Manhattan, dedicated to the 67 British victims of the World Trade Center attacks.
The queen was to arrive in New York after a nine-day visit to Canada.