Queen's Jamestown tour evokes history, memories

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., May 4 (Reuters) Greeted by crowds of admirers and bouquets of flowers, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II strolled past thatched-roof homes in historic Jamestown today in a visit that evoked both US colonial history and the early part of her own reign.

The British monarch's visit marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown by English settlers who sailed for five months across the Atlantic in search of gold and silver.

Despite travails including a scarcity of food and clean water, the colonists established the first permanent British settlement in North America and named it after King James I.

The queen, wearing a teal coat and matching hat, was joined by Vice President Dick Cheney in walking past homes and a church created as replicas of the structures of the original 1607 settlement.

For some Virginians old enough to have been in the area in 1957, the visit brought a sense of deja vu. Queen Elizabeth, then a young mother who had assumed the throne just five years earlier, came to Jamestown for its 350th anniversary as well.

''She has a lot of demands on her,'' said Hugh DeSemper, 80.

''It's so wonderful that she chose to come here again.'' DeSemper watched last evening as a horse-drawn carriage took the queen through the historic area of Williamsburg, Virginia. He had seen her go by in a similar procession when the queen -- now 81 -- was just 31.

But DeSemper and others who witnessed the queen's earlier visit said one difference was the level of security.

While many of the events 50 years ago were open to the public, the queen's audiences this time have been much more restricted -- a limitation that annoyed some tourists who hoped to see Queen Elizabeth in person.

NATIVE AMERICANS AND SLAVES Organizers also tried this time to put much more emphasis on the contributions -- and suffering -- of Native Americans and blacks brought to Virginia as slaves to work in what later became a thriving tobacco industry for the state.

In a speech to the Virginia General Assembly, the queen acknowledged this change, paying tribute to the ''melting pot'' she said is one of America's strengths.

Bob Buettner, 55, and his wife and daughter did not get to see the carriage ride despite waiting for two hours.

''We kept asking people when she was going to arrive but no one would give us a straight answer. I think because of security they were so secretive about it,'' said Buettner.

In addition to dignitaries like Cheney and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the Jamestown visit included volunteers for the settlement's historic society and selected members of the press.

Virginia held a lottery to pick members of the public who could join the queen on her visit to the state capitol building in Richmond yesterday, although people were allowed to sit on the lawn on blankets and watch from afar.

Many were not deterred by the long lines and tight security, including 11-year-old Tristan Terrell, who was visiting Williamsburg on a history tour organized by her school in Alabama.

''She's got a million outfits,'' Terrell said, adding it was ''really cool'' that Queen Elizabeth had traveled such a long distance for the visit.

The school group was on its way to try to see the queen at the Williamsburg Governor's Palace, which was built during the colonial era and once occupied by Thomas Jefferson.

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