The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has sent its congratulations to The Queen as she approaches the 70th anniversary of her reign.
Ahead of the anniversary, on February 6th 2022, the RNLI recalled the many years of support they have received from The Queen for their work and sent their best wishes as she made history by becoming the first British Monarch to mark a Platinum Jubilee.
The Queen meets RNLI volunteers at St. Peter Port, Guernsey in 1978 (Photo by the RNLI)
The Chief Executive of the RNLI, Mark Dowie, said ”On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s accession to the throne, all volunteers and staff at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution send our Patron loyal greetings.”
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Kent with 233 lifeboat coxswains and senior helms, one from every station at the opening of the RNLI College in Poole in 2004 (Photo by the RNLI)
The organisation also shared a number of special images from The Queen’s long association with the organisation including a famous photo from 2004, taken at Poole, when a lifeboat helmsperson and coxswain from every RNLI lifeboat station in the country gathered together for the first time.
The Queen at the opening of Cowes Lifeboat Station where she was greeted by Mark Southwell, Cowes Lifeboat Operations Manage rPhoto by the RNLI.)
Recalling another visit, this time in her Diamond Jubilee year of 2012, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Cowes, Mark Southwell, spoke of The Queen’s kindness to him. He had forgotten to read out his speech but said ”She said: “You’re in charge, we’re having a lovely time. Don’t worry and get back up there and give it a go, no one will realise.”’
Ten year old Robbie Maiden (now an RNLI Coxswain) meeting The Queen in 1977 (Photo by the RNLI)
Leading lifeboat coxswain, Robbie Maiden, revealed how he’d shared his ambitions of following his family on to the boats when he met The Queen as a ten year old. Now coxswain of the Hartlepool lifeboat, he said ”The lifeboat crew had arranged for me to have my own RNLI Guernsey jumper and red woolly hat so I looked like part of the crew. It was such an honour to present The Queen with a book about the RNLI’s history. She asked me that day if I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps, the answer was a resounding “yes” and here I am today as the current coxswain.’
The RNLI was founded in 1824 and operates 238 lifeboat stations around the UK. All are staffed by volunteers who often risk their lives providing 24 hour search and rescue around the coast. Since its inception, the RNLI has saved over 142,700 lives. The Queen became its patron in 1952, taking over from her father, King George VI. Her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, was also patron, between 1937 and 2002.
