Queen Elizabeth to visit Ground Zero, United Nations

Queen Elizabeth II's visit to New York City starts with an address to the United Nations and a tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

The queen will spend five hours in the city Tuesday.

The 84-year-old monarch was 31 years old when she last spoke at the U.N. in 1957. That was four years after she was crowned queen. This time, she's expected to appeal for world unity and peace.

The queen also is scheduled to lay a wreath at ground zero in honor of the thousands of people who died there. She will then open the British Garden of Remembrance in nearby Hanover Square to honor the 67 British citizens who were killed.

Elizabeth's husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, is traveling with her. They are scheduled to fly back to London Tuesday evening.

The queen will also formally open the British Garden at Hanover Square in lower Manhattan as a tribute to the 67 British nationals who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

Among the throng at Hanover Square will be British-born Victoria Crosby of Glen Cove, president of the Daughters of the British Empire in New York State. Crosby and a contingent of the Long Island chapter of the DBE, clad in hats and wearing their organization badges, hope to catch a glimpse of the queen.

"When I lived in England, I couldn't wait to live in America," said Crosby, who grew up near Liverpool and immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. "As you get older, you get more attached to your ancestry."

Since taking the throne in 1952, the queen has reigned for 58 years over a period of great political and economic change in Britain, as well as personal challenge.

She has seen the marriages of three of her four children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew, dissolve in highly publicized divorces. When Charles' ex-wife, Princess Diana, died in a 1997 Paris car crash with boyfriend Dodi Fayed, the queen was criticized for appearing aloof and cold for not showing her emotions. She finally addressed the nation by television.

In recent years, the queen seems to be enjoying a resurgence in public standing and, in 2012, Britain and its Commonwealth partners will celebrate her diamond jubilee, signifying 60 years of reign.