Queen Addresses U.N. for First Time in 50-Plus Years

July 6, 2010— -- Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to visit New York City today to address the United Nations for the first time in more than half a century.

The royal was 31 the last time she stood before the assembled world representatives in 1957, when "Leave It to Beaver" had recently premiered on TV and the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik.

She expressed optimism for the fledgling U.N., which at the time was barely a decade old.

"I offer you my best wishes in your tasks and pray that you may be successful," she said then.

The queen, who has reigned for 58 years, is expected to appeal to the world's leaders for global unity and peace.

"She's going to reflect on how the world has changed and she's going to offer her thoughts on leadership," royal historian Robert Lacey said.

From there, the queen, 84, is expected to make her first visit to ground zero, the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Her trip is expected to end in downtown Manhattan at a garden memorial to British subjects who died on 9/11. About 50 families of victims will meet the queen at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"The fact that she's fitted this into her very busy schedule I think is amazing," said Alex Clark, the mother of a 9/11 victim.

Before her relatively short New York City trip, the queen spent nine days in Canada. Her half-day trip to New York City is short by design, according to royal watchers.

"They are very cost conscious," Majesty magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward said. "She's not overnighting in New York. The queen is 84-years-old. She's had an exhausting nine-day trip. She'd rather be home than stay on in New York."