Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth.Photo: Daily Herald Archive/SSPL/Getty
The last timeQueen Elizabethsaw her father King George VI, he was cheering her on from the tarmac as she andPrince Philipembarked on their royal tour in 1952.
Days later, the royal heir and her husband Philip werevisiting Kenyawhen they received news that the King was found dead in his bed at Sandringham House in Norfolk on the morning of February 6, 1952, at the age of 56 — making his eldest daughter the new monarch. He previously suffered from lung cancer and had a lung removed; it was later determined that he had died of coronary thrombosis.
The final time that King George and Princess Elizabeth, then 25, were together was six days prior on January 31, when he went to London Airport to see the couple off on their Commonwealth tour, which was slated to include visits to Australia and New Zealand, representing the King who was too ill to travel.
King George VI.Shutterstock
The family then gathered on a rooftop to watch the plane take off. In photos, Prime Minister Winston Churchill can be seen inside watching through glass doors.
Princess Elizabeth andPrince Philipwere enjoying a relaxing, wildlife-watching stop in Kenya after a week of official engagements on that fateful day, staying at the treehouse perched in an enormous fig tree in Aberdare National Park. Due to their remote location, they did not get the news immediately.
The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and King George VI.AP/Shutterstock
Lady Pamela Hicks, a cousin ofPrince Philipand one of the couple’s bridesmaids at their wedding, was a witness to history during the trip. She recalled in her bookDaughter of Empire: Life as a Mountbatten, “We must have been among the last people in the world to hear the news.”
Lady Pamela said that the morning in Kenya had been “very easy” and that the unknowing new monarch was penning a letter to her father “about all the wonderful sights she had seen” shortly before she received word of his death.
Royal family and Winston Churchill gathers to watch Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip depart for Kenya.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty
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Keystone/Getty
As Lady Pamela previously put it, “She went up that ladder a princess and came down a queen.”
There followed the difficult flight home. “When we landed in England and seeing Winston Churchill and others drawn up on the tarmac, there was this sudden realization that this was the end of her private life,” Lady Pamela added.
Queen ElizabethII died on Sept. 8, 2022, making her eldest son King Charles III.
source: people.com
