When Queen Elizabeth visited Ghana and danced with Nkrumah

Written By GhanaWeb

Queen Elizabeth II has just made history as the only British monarch to be celebrating a platinum jubilee (70 years) on the throne.

With that has come many interesting stories about the long, impactful life of the monarch who turned 96 years in April 2022.

And with Ghana being one of Britain’s most prominent former colonies, it is no wonder the Queen has visited the West African country twice in her lifetime: 1961 and 1999 under Kwame Nkrumah and Jerry John Rawlings respectively.

But there are even more intriguing stories around the reasons Queen Elizabeth II made that first trip to Ghana in 1961 at all cost.

According to the report, there were two principal reasons: the first was to stop Ghana from leaving the commonwealth, and secondly, to eschew the notion of racism particularly because America in 1961 was still denying Black people the right to vote.

When the 35-year-old Queen Elizabeth II touched down in Ghana, she did something that was quite symbolic to the agenda with which she came to the country: the queen danced with Kwame Nkrumah, the newsweek.com indicates.

“In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, Britain and America feared Ghana would leave the Commonwealth and fall under the influence of the Soviet Union, U.K. newspaper The Times reported.

“Up stepped the queen, then 35, on a mission to persuade President Kwame Nkrumah not to leave the partnership of nations she cherished.

“During a visit to capital city Accra, the queen was photographed dancing happily with the Ghanaian leader at a time when black people in America were still denied the right to vote,” the report said.