Monarchy

THE ACCESSION OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II In the early morning hours of February 6, 1952, the Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of Windsor, twenty-five, heiress presumptive1 to the British Throne, became Queen Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. King George VI had died in his sleep of a heart attack during the night. The King's body was discovered at 7:30 that morning by his valet. Only a day earlier, the King had been out in an unusually brilliant winter sunshine, enjoying his favorite sport, shooting. He had bagged nine hares and one pigeon. His last words to his companions were: "Well, it's been a very good day's sport, gentlemen!" At 11:45 a.m., London time, on the day of the King's death, the heiress presumptive was at Sagana Lodge, a farm she and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, had been given as a wedding gift by the colonial government of Kenya. It was the first leg of a Commonwealth tour she had begun only days earlier, standing in for her ailing father. Confusion reigned in the immediate hours after the King's death. Purportedly, a telegram was sent from Buckingham Palace to Kenya, informing the royal party of the King's death. The heiress to the Throne actually learned that she had become Queen, however, after Martin Charteris, then attached to her Household and traveling with the royal couple in Kenya, heard a report on the radio and relayed the news to Michael Parker, a close friend of Prince Philip's who was in the royal entourage. Parker informed Prince Philip of the King's death, and he in turn broke the news to his wife. Commander Michael Avison Parker (Ret.), CVO, equerry-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, 1947-53; private secretary to the Duke of Edinburgh, 1948-57. We'd been up the tree, and we'd seen a great herd of elephants and a lot of animals. At the dawn, I discovered a ladder going up to the top of the tree, where you could look over the jungle at Mount Kenya. Prince Philip was asleep and she was looking out there, and I said: "Ma'am, would you like to come and look at the view?" So up she came with me and we had a look at the dawn of that terrible day, out there in Africa. But what a beautiful dawn it was; it was a fantastic sight! We went down, and we all went on to Sagana Lodge, which was where we were staying. We had a day or so to adjust, and rest, and do things, before we went on to Mombasa, where we were going aboard a ship and on to Australia. Well, Prince Philip went to sleep in his little room that was off to one side. The Princess was at her desk, writing thank-you letters, and some family letters--and to the King, I suppose--because we were going to be out of reach for a while and this was the last mail to go. Then the phone rang. And Martin Charteris, the Princess's private secretary, said: "Mike, there's a ghastly rumor going round that the King has died." He was at a hotel in Nyeri, amongst all the press people there, and they were saying that they had heard. So I said: "Well, Martin, that's frightening, but I cannot do a thing on a rumor like that. I just won't do anything." And he said: "That's just as well, but stand by." Down went the phone. I saw a radio on the shelf above me. There was a door open to where the Princess was sitting, so I shut the door and switched on the radio and hunted about for the BBC, and then I could hear the bells of Big Ben ringing, very slowly. I thought: Ye gods. And my hair stood up a little bit more. Then I heard the announcement. And that was that. I whizzed round the outside of the house, to the veranda, and in to where Prince Philip was sleeping, and told him. He had just woken up from a heavy sleep andStrober, Deborah H. is the author of 'Monarchy' with ISBN 9780767906388 and ISBN 0767906381.