HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh – en route to a Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago later in the week – flew to Bermuda for the first time in 15 years on Tuesday for a three-day visit to help celebrate the island’s 400th anniversary of permanent settlement.

The Queen’s visit to this British Overseas Territory in the north Atlantic, which will be marked by cultural events and a major thanksgiving service at the Anglican Cathedral in Hamilton, comes exactly 56 years after she first visited the island on November 24, 1953.

It was the first stop of a major Commonwealth tour which began five months after her coronation.

The Queen and the Duke visited the island again in 1975, 1976 and 1994 while the royal couple have twice visited Trinidad and Tobago – in 1966 and 1985.

Warm and sunny weather greeted the couple who were met at the LF Wade International Airport on Tuesday by Governor Sir Richard Gozney and Lady Gozney and Premier Ewart Brown and his wife Wanda.

Their first tour stop was the nearby town of St. George’s before heading to Government House where they will stay.

Wednesday’s itinerary includes a visit to the former Royal Navy outpost at Dockyard where the Queen officially opened the Maritime Museum more than 34 years ago.

This week’s visit was put in doubt five months ago when a diplomatic row blew up between Bermuda and Britain after four former detainees of the American detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were secretly flown to the island following their release from seven years of captivity.

The deal was struck between the United States and the Bermuda government without the consent of the island’s British Governor or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.

Premier Brown said he brought the four men, Chinese Muslim Uighurs, to the island as a humanitarian gesture. The four are now working in the island while the British continue to debate their future.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who is accompanying the royal couple to Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago, will meet the Premier at a working breakfast on Wednesday.

Miliband and Brown also met recently during the British Labour Party’s annual conference when the Uighurs issue was raised.

A cross-section of the island’s business community has also been invited to Wednesday’s breakfast, which will be a briefing on reinsurance and financial services.

Brown said: “This is an excellent opportunity to share Bermuda’s unique position with a senior member of the UK government. I believe that Bermuda can only benefit from the more familiarity and understanding of the island’s financial services sector gained by such key influencers.”

The Premier will be joined by the Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance Paula Cox and Financial Secretary Donald Scott.

The royal couple leave Bermuda on Thursday morning for Trinidad and Tobago where Commonwealth Heads of Government will meet for their biennial conference. The Queen will officially open the meeting.