Santa Barbara's History of Hosting Dignitaries
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Kate Middleton) will join a long list of dignitaries who have visited Santa Barbara in the last century when they arrive on The American Riviera® as part of their visit to California July 8-10, 2011.
Santa Barbara has hosted royals, dignitaries and world leaders for decades, drawing them to the city’s sophisticated lifestyle, classic charm, luxury resorts and distinctively regional culinary experiences. The city’s notoriety as an inspirational retreat was born during the silent film era when Santa Barbara was known as “the back-lot by the sea,” and producers, directors and movie stars discovered the area’s sparkling beaches and near-perfect climate. In the early 1900s, a constant stream of luxury rail cars ferried Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and Duponts to town and spurred an artistic swell of painters, poets and authors who fell under Santa Barbara’s spell.
The following royalty and dignitaries have also visited Santa Barbara:
- 1939: Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid (who later became King Frederik IX of Denmark and Queen Ingrid, 1947-1972) visited the city of Solvang, which was constructed to reflect its Danish residents’ homeland.
- 1940: Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh were married at the San Ysidro Ranch with Katharine Hepburn as a witness.
- 1953: John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier honeymooned in Santa Barbara and stayed at the San Ysidro Ranch.
- 1960: Young Princess Margrethe of Denmark visited Solvang and attended a reception at Palacio del Rio, had lunch at Bethania Church, and later toured downtown Solvang. In 1976, she returned as Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, accompanied by her husband HRH Prince Consort Henrik.
- 1974: Ronald Reagan purchased the 688-acre Rancho del Cielo in north Santa Barbara County during his second term as Governor of California. During Reagan’s presidency, the ranch became known as the “Western White House.”
- 1981: George H. W. Bush, who was the Vice President of the United States at the time, and Barbara Bush visited Ronald Reagan’s ranch.
- 1983: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip made an official visit to Santa Barbara as part of a tour of the western United States. The Queen had planned to sail on her yacht Britannia from Long Beach Harbor, but a massive storm prevented the ship from leaving port. Instead she flew into Santa Barbara Airport where she was greeted by President Ronald Reagan. The Queen’s visit is commemorated with a plaque at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, an historic landmark open to the public.
- 1992: Mikhail S. Gorbachev and his wife Raisa Gorbachev visited President Ronald Reagan's Santa Barbara County ranch just five months after resigning as leader of the Soviet Union and disbanding the USSR itself. For the first time, the two former superpower leaders enjoyed a friendly day not as adversaries or negotiators but as friends who changed the world.
- 1992: Bill Clinton, President-elect at the time, vacationed with his family in Summerland, a few miles south of Santa Barbara. Clinton enjoyed a game of beach volleyball at East Beach and a jog down State Street and Cabrillo Boulevard in downtown Santa Barbara. According to the Los Angeles Times, Clinton declared the area “gorgeous.”
- 1993: British Prime Minister Lady Margaret Thatcher was a guest of Ronald Reagan’s and visited Rancho del Cielo.
- 2011: His Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark will visit Solvang on June 11 to celebrate the city’s Centennial and reaffirm the historic, cultural and business ties between Denmark and the “Danish Capital of America.”
