UPDATE:

It took 53 years for Queen Elizabeth II to return to the United Nations.

The last time she addressed the General Assembly, Dwight D. Eisenhower was President, the Soviets had launched Sputnik 17 days earlier, and the Dodgers had  played their last game in Brooklyn less than one month before.

She was 31 years old, and today, at 84, she stood at the same iconic green marble podium and made a plea for world unity and peace.

She arrived greeting U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and his wife, who posed for photographs along with the Queen’s husband, Prince Phillip. As seems the custom, many women wore the British style festive hats as she did.

She paused at the tattered flag that flew over the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, which was blown up by terrorists in 2003, killing 22 U.N. employees.

When she entered the General Assembly hall, her Majesty was greeted by polite applause from the diplomats accustomed to the presence of world leaders, but the Queen’s appearance was a very rare occasion.

When last here, the U.N. was only 12 years old and she warned “Time has in fact made the task of the U.N. more difficult.”

This time she was full of praise.

Much has changed in the past 53 years, and she alluded to that. But she also said “many important things have not changed, the aims and values that inspired the U.N. charter have endured.”

In her brief address, she spoke of the new threats of terrorism and global warming, and praised the U.N. for its work on poverty across the globe, calling the U.N. “a real force for common good..”

“You are an anchor for our age,”  Secretary General Ban  told her. “You have become a living symbol of grace, constancy, and dignity.”

He also thanked her for Britain’s support of the United Nations.

She also visits Ground Zero and lays a wreath at a garden in lower Manhattan that honors the 67 British citizens who died ion 9/11 before heading home after her five hour visit.

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The Queens is coming and she is cutting back.

Yes, the recession has even dented royalty.

Queen Elizabeth II will spend about five hours in New York City, only the third time she has visited the city.

She is not even spending the night.

Perhaps one reason for that is the efforts at reducing royal expenses. The royal family has trimmed its budget by about 7%, to roughly $60 million a year. The Queen’s budget is about $12 million a year, which has remained frozen for the past twenty years. The royals have cut their travel and entertainment expenses by 40-50% as Britain, like other governments, faces huge deficits.

The Queen starts her visit at the United Nations, where she will address the General Assembly for  only the second time since 1957, when she first ascended the green marble podium in the august hall. Back then, even though the U.N. was barely 12 years old, she warned that “Time has in fact made the task of the U.N. more difficult,” a declaration that certainly still holds true today, 53 years later.

After her address, in which she is expected to reflect on global unity and world peace, she will pay a somber visit to Ground Zero.  She will then lay a wreath at the British Garden of Remembrance in lower Manhattan, a small garden that honors the 67 British citizens who died on 9/11.

Her Majesty was last in New York City during our nation’s bicentennial celebrations in 1976, though she is said to travel to Kentucky bluegrass country every couple of years to attend the Kentucky derby.

Her visit today is brief, but full of resonate meaning as she has served 58 years on the throne. She will then fly home tonight to Buckingham Palace.

And she won’t even have to spring for a Manhattan hotel room.