68 years ago, Queen Elizabeth II began her truly remarkable reign as Queen. 68 years of unbroken service has ensued for the world’s longest-reigning monarch. The then Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya on an official visit in January 1952 when her unwell father King George VI passed away following a battle with lung cancer. During her stay, Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh slept at the exclusive Treetops Hotel in Nyeri, Kenya, the rooms perched atop ancient fig trees.
Upon learning the news officials accompanying Elizabeth then had to attempt to find the 25-year-old princess to break the news to her that her father had passed away during the night and she was now Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen does not celebrate the day she ascended the throne — perhaps unsurprisingly, given it is the anniversary of her father’s death. The celebrations are instead held for the anniversary of Coronation day, which followed more than a year later on 2 June, 1953 in Westminster Abbey.
Queen Elizabeth II has undertaken 68 years of unbroken, exemplary apolitical service at the very top of British public life. Although it is unlikely that the Queen would have celebrated by waking up in a tree this year, she did wake on the anniversary of her ascension for the first time in many years not a subject of the European Union. While many other countries are well served by presidential systems, in that time Elizabeth II has spared the United Kingdom a President Kinnock, or a President Blair, and many other potential horrors. And for that, you might say, God Save the Queen.
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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