Elizabeth II visits KL during political storm
Elizabeth II visits KL during political storm
KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A white-gloved Queen Elizabeth II attended a church service at Freedom Square on her first stop in this former British colony roiling with a sordid political drama.
Just after the queen settled into the front pew at nearby St. Mary's Anglican cathedral, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's sacked deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, headed toward Merdeka Square in a convoy, defying police restrictions to hold a rally at the site where Malaysian independence was declared in 1957.
Many of the thousands in the streets said they were there to catch a glimpse of either the queen, or Anwar, who has made an unprecedented challenge to Mahathir's 17-year rule.
In a fushcia hat, a pink floral dress and cream-colored pumps with a matching handbag, the queen attended the half-hour service in the 19th-century Anglican church with her husband, Prince Phillip.
Just before entering a navy blue Bently with Prince Philip, the queen appeared to wipe a tear from her eye with a gloved finger.
Although it was not immediately clear if she was crying or dabbing away perspiration from the tropical heat, the queen's press secretary said she and her husband had been informed immediately after landing in Kuala Lumpur of the death of Susan Barrantes, mother of the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, who is the former wife of Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Isabel.
"They were shocked and saddened by the news," said press secretary, Geoff Crawford.
Barrantes was killed in a car accident in Argentina where she lived, her family announced Sunday.
As the royal couple left the church, they greeted hundreds of beaming members of the congregation, the choir and clergy. The queen spoke briefly with a group of disabled and orphaned members of the parish.
One woman pushed through the crowd, clutching a blown-up photograph of her husband flanked by the queen and duke on a visit to Malacca in 1972. She asked the queen for an autograph.
"Sorry I don't do that," the queen replied through a sweet smile, her hands clasped in front of her.
Just over a kilometer away, thousands of Moslems, chanting "Reform" gathered at the National Mosque to hear Anwar speech before marching to the central square in defiance of police threats.
It was unlikely that the queen would have been exposed to the headlines in almost all of Malaysia's Sunday papers, declaring in bold-face type that two men had confessed to being sodomized by Anwar.
Anwar said the men were coerced and that Mahathir was behind a plot to diminish his popularity in this conservative Moslem country, where many readers considered the newspaper articles pornographic.
The royal couple later met with gold medalists from the Commonwealth Games, the first in Asia. The queen will preside over the closing ceremony Monday, visit the tallest skyscraper in the world, an exhibition highlighting British industry and a recording studio to meet with Malaysian pop music stars.
Prince Philip, an avid environmentalist, will visit the World Wide Fund for Nature's Education Center in a national park outside the capital.