top of page
Logo for LNF Weekly

Queen Elizabeth visits La Villita

35 mm Kodacolor film (digitally converted to sepia)

For the past several months, I’ve been going through my archives, assembling photos for a retrospective exhibit, and this is one of the shots I had pulled out to use — Queen Elizabeth’s visit to San Antonio in 1991.


Back in the early nineties, I was working regularly for both the City and the Chamber of Commerce, and I think this photo came out of an assignment for one of them. In order to get a press pass for the event, I had to be cleared by the Secret Service. I had to do that quite a few times back then, because I was often taking photos of dignitaries who visited San Antonio — the Pope, Jimmy Carter, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Bill Clinton, the President of Mexico — people like that.


For this photo, I was stationed in La Villita. The Queen came down the river by barge, climbed those long steps in the Arneson Theater, walked through La Villita, and then boarded a VIA trolley to ride to the Alamo. I was impressed by her stamina, and by her graciousness. She acknowledged the crowd and all the people meeting her.


I got this shot as she came from the Arneson. I tried to get some more shots, running alongside the trolley, but the Secret Service stopped me.


In the background of this photo, you can see that Prince Phillip is inspecting a unit of men in kilts. I’m not sure, but I think they were the San Antonio Scottish Rifles.


My favorite thing about this photo is a sort of Norman Rockwell moment. Notice the young boy at the end of the Scottish Rifles unit: He’s standing on a curb so he can be as tall as everybody else in the group.

See more of Al's work on his website.

bottom of page