RICHMOND, Va., May 3 (UPI) -- Queen Elizabeth's speech to the Virginia General Assembly began and ended Thursday with standing ovations.
The British monarch, in the United States to mark the 400th anniversary of the settlement at Jamestown and attend the Kentucky Derby, spoke of the hardships at Jamestown in its early years and of the long friendship between her country and its former colony, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
She also remarked that when she first visited Jamestown 50 years ago the emphasis was on the English settlers, not the Indians they displaced or the slaves brought from Africa. "Human progress rarely comes without cost," she said.
The queen also gave condolences to the victims of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech and their families.
The queen and her husband, Prince Philip, then traveled to Williamsburg where they rode in a horse-drawn carriage, waving to people lining the route despite a light rain. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and other dignitaries followed in a second carriage.
The queen visits Jamestown Friday morning with her husband. The couple then split up, with the queen at William and Mary College and Philip attending a reception on board the War II battleship Wisconsin in Norfolk.
