Hugo Vickers wrote of this particular encounter in The Crown: Truth and Fiction:
>The Queen’s proposed visit to Ghana was certainly a complicated issue. Nkrumah had been Prime Minister since 1952 and President since Ghana became a Republic in March 1957. He was becoming increasingly despotic. There were distinct fears that Ghana might leave the Commonwealth, as South Africa had done, as recently as 31 May 1961. There was a suggestion that the Russians might finance the Volta Dam project.
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>The Queen had been meant to go to Ghana earlier, but became pregnant with Prince Andrew, so had to cancel. She did not want to disappoint Nkrumah. Meanwhile he had visited Russia in October, the political climate was turbulent, two bombs had gone off in Accra, and there were genuine fears for the Queen’s safety. Duncan Sandys, then Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, was sent out to test the water. All went well, and the Queen remained determined to go. Macmillan wrote of her: ‘She loves her duty and means to be a Queen and not a puppet.’ She told him, ‘How silly I should look if I was scared to visit Ghana and then Khruschev went and had a good reception.’ So she went, and as shown in the episode, melted Nkrumah by dancing with him at the state ball. After the visit Macmillan was able to telephone President Kennedy and tell him: ‘I risked my Queen. You must risk your money.’ As a result, the Americans financed the building of the Volta Dam, and Ghana stayed in the Commonwealth. This had nothing to do with upstaging Mrs Kennedy.
MeeowmixMcTickle
An article in The Times about the symbolic moment in the history of the Commonwealth.
Johannes_P
Just one year before, she was the gueen of Ghana.
Rob-With-One-B
Hugo Vickers wrote of this particular encounter in The Crown: Truth and Fiction:
>The Queen’s proposed visit to Ghana was certainly a complicated issue. Nkrumah had been Prime Minister since 1952 and President since Ghana became a Republic in March 1957. He was becoming increasingly despotic. There were distinct fears that Ghana might leave the Commonwealth, as South Africa had done, as recently as 31 May 1961. There was a suggestion that the Russians might finance the Volta Dam project.
>
>The Queen had been meant to go to Ghana earlier, but became pregnant with Prince Andrew, so had to cancel. She did not want to disappoint Nkrumah. Meanwhile he had visited Russia in October, the political climate was turbulent, two bombs had gone off in Accra, and there were genuine fears for the Queen’s safety. Duncan Sandys, then Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, was sent out to test the water. All went well, and the Queen remained determined to go. Macmillan wrote of her: ‘She loves her duty and means to be a Queen and not a puppet.’ She told him, ‘How silly I should look if I was scared to visit Ghana and then Khruschev went and had a good reception.’ So she went, and as shown in the episode, melted Nkrumah by dancing with him at the state ball. After the visit Macmillan was able to telephone President Kennedy and tell him: ‘I risked my Queen. You must risk your money.’ As a result, the Americans financed the building of the Volta Dam, and Ghana stayed in the Commonwealth. This had nothing to do with upstaging Mrs Kennedy.