Wellington College welcomed Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the school on 1 December 2009. The visit was part of its celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the College by Queen Victoria as the national memorial to the 1st Duke of Wellington. Her Majesty is Visitor of the College.
During the visit, Her Majesty was introduced to the project for Wellington College International Tianjin and inspected a model of the school buildings and playing fields which are currently under construction. Talking with Joy Qiao, a governor of Wellington College International Tianjin, Her Majesty expressed great interest in the project, asking about the partnership between Wellington College and its first overseas school and about the development of the city of Tianjin in China.
Wellington College International Tianjin will open in September 2011 and will provide the same high standards of excellence and depth of education as Wellington College. Centrally located on a newly purpose-built campus in the city centre of Tianjin, the College will boast impressive facilities designed in the distinctive classical style of Wellington College including fully equipped interactive classrooms, a library, an indoor gymnasium, a sports field, a swimming pool and a state-of-the-art theatre. The College will cater for all children aged from 3 to 18, with a dedicated nursery block housing the younger pupils on the same site.
On arrival at Wellington College, Her Majesty and the Duke and Duchess of Wellington were welcomed by His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, President of Wellington College, and by the Lord-Lieutenant of Berkshire. The Vice President and Chairman of Governors, Sir Anthony Goodenough, was then presented, followed by Dr Anthony Seldon, 13th Master, and Dr Joanna Seldon. The Royal Family remains very close to the school. His Royal Highness The Duke of York is President of Wellington Academy, the independent state school founded by Wellington, while the present Duke of Wellington takes an active interest in the school's activities.
Her Majesty officially opened the College's magnificent new Sir Harold Nicolson Institute for Modern Foreign Languages. Before unveiling the commemorative plaque, Her Majesty saw a Mandarin lesson in progress and watched a Harkness lesson - where pupils sit around an oval table - taking place in Spanish. To end the visit, a musical tribute to Her Majesty was played by a group of the College's musical scholars and other talented musicians and singers.
