Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully aged 96 years at the Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
She is not only the longest-serving monarch in British history but also has been the longest-serving head of state in the world.
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, better known as Queen Elizabeth II has been a great symbol of dedicated leadership and dignified public service for more than half a century.
She has served the United Kingdom and Common Wealth countries for 70 years.
Unknown to many, Queen Elizabeth II earned her title ‘Queen’ when she was on a tour in Kenya. Elizabeth was next to the throne after her Father George VI.
The queen enjoyed traveling while she was still a youthful Princess. This is a tale that has been told countless times.
“It is a day that, even after 70 years, I still remember as much for the death of my father, King George VI, as for the start of my reign,” she wrote in an anniversary statement in February.
On January 31st, 1952, a young Princess Elizabeth flew on a British Overseas Airways Cooperation Argonaut aircraft that was headed to Nairobi, Kenya. She was accompanied by her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.
Her father saw her off at the Airport, reports describing him as well and cheerful. One of the stewards of the aircraft described Princess Elizabeth as the ‘Happiest woman in the world.
For many months, King George VI had been in bad health and was not feeling well. This is why he tasked Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip with visiting the Commonwealth country.
This would be the last time they both saw each other. The young couple left for Kenya, where a BBC newsreel shows them emerging from the BOAC Argonaut Plane.
“When the royal couple stepped off into the hot sunshine of Nairobi, no one knew then that the girl who had arrived here as Princess Elizabeth would leave five days later as queen,” the British broadcaster would report.
The couple traveled to Sagana Lodge, which was at the time presented to them as a wedding gift by the Kenyan state ruled by the British. It was a difficult time in Kenya’s history with the Maumau outbreaks happening, so the state could not guarantee her safety.
On Feb. 5, the couple traveled further into the forest, to the Treetops Hotel, a game-viewing lodge. Their three-bed cabin was reached by a rickety ladder and built into the branches of an ancient fig tree, overlooking a waterhole and salt lick.
King George, on the other hand, was in the UK, too ill to go for hare hunting. On his last night, George dined with his wife and younger daughter, Princess Margret, before retiring to bed at around 10:30 pm.
Thousands of miles away, his eldest daughter was having the time of her life, seeing and filming with her camera rhinos, warthogs, baboons and a herd of elephants, pink from rolling in the red Kenyan soil.
Little did she know that would be her last evening as a Princess, making a huge milestone in her life. King George VI died in his sleep. Elizabeth fell asleep a princess and woke up as a queen.
On February 6th, 1952, because of the distance and difficulty of communication to rural Kenya, the King’s death news took a while to arrive. The message was first given to Prince Philip’s private secretary, then to Philip and thereafter to Elizabeth.
This was after they had returned to Sagana Lodge from the Treehouse lodge. Without any ceremony or awareness, but per British tradition, Princess Elizabeth had become Queen Elizabeth II.
“It was certainly a very different flight back from Kenya than it had been flying out there. My father recalled the Queen flying out as the happiest woman in the world and then just looking thunderstruck on the way back.” Said the BOAC Argonaut’s steward’s son, Ken Junior.
“He said she seemed under an enormous amount of pressure coming home and all the crew treated her with respect and dignity” he added.
Newspapers printing the next day had the front headlines reading ‘Long Live Queen Elizabeth II” noting “Her Majesty, pale with grief, leaves by air for home.”
The new queen stayed composed, except for one moment on the flight back to London.
“The Queen left her seat after a while. Her face was set when she returned, but it was obvious to the other passengers that she had been in the loo, having a good long cry,” wrote Best, one of her accompaniment staff then.
When the plane touched down on UK soil, a black dress was brought to the plane so that she could disembark wearing the appropriate mourning attire.
The following day, she declared her reign, beginning in 1952, at just 25 years of age. She defied the odds and expectations placed on women of her generation.
“By the sudden death of my dear father, I am called to assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty. My heart is too full for me to say more to you today than I shall always work as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over.” She said.
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