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ALTERNATIVE LINE
++ SAT-MORNING ++ OR A servant had to get her a mourning robe OR When her father died, she admired a sunrise in Africa
When her father George VI.
died on February 6, 1952 in Sandringham House near Norfolk, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor stayed 10,000 kilometers away in Kenya with her husband Prince Philip.
And so the 26-year-old was one of the last to hear of her loss - and of her new role: As heir to the throne, Elizabeth automatically became the new Queen of Great Britain and head of the Commonwealth.
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Today “The Queen” is a symbol of Great Britain and its values such as calm stubbornness and cosmopolitanism.
In terms of content, she has nothing to contribute to politics, but without her as a figure of identification, the United Kingdom would be decidedly more divided.
And it rules longer than any of its predecessors.
Shortly before the end of the trip: Elizabeth and Philip visiting a polo match in Kenya
Source: Getty Images
In 1952, Elizabeth was in a tree house hotel when the news of her death reached her.
It is not only the British who joke about the only princess who climbed a tree and came down as queen.
"She sat upright and accepted her fate," her private secretary recalled.
Instead of continuing the planned trip with further stops in Fiji, Australia and Sri Lanka, among others, Elizabeth suddenly needed mourning clothes.
A servant got the new queen a black dress.
Death came as a surprise to Elizabeth and her entourage.
She had already taken on representative appointments for her father for some time.
The king, a chain smoker, suffered from lung cancer and arteriosclerosis.
He should have started this trip too.
News of the king's death spread very quickly
Source: Getty Images
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A few months earlier, in October 1951, Elizabeth visited Canada and Washington, where she met American President Harry S. Truman.
Her private secretary was already carrying a prepared declaration of accession to the throne in case Georg should die in her absence.
Elizabeth immediately returned to London, where the court proclaimed her queen.
Traditionally, there were no celebrations during the mourning period.
More than a year passed before the coronation - not least because the festival with all its splendor had to be prepared for a long time.
A major media event: The coronation ceremony of Elizabeth II was the first event of its kind to be televised
Source: picture alliance / akg-images
In Kenya, when she asked her private secretary what name she would have, she replied: "My own, of course." She was crowned Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953 in Westminster Abbey in London.
The ceremony was televised as the first major event of its kind. This gave both the media popularity and the event massive exposure.
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With Elizabeth's accession to the throne, the royal family could have changed names; as the wife of Philip Mountbatten, she could have chosen her husband's name.
Philip therefore complained that he was the only man in England who was not allowed to give his last name to his children.
As is usual in a good marriage, a compromise was found: Although the royal family bears the name Windsor, the secular surname of Elizabeth's children is Mountbatten-Windsor.
Even in public, the couple's division of responsibilities was always clear: The Queen has the role of embodying goodness, tradition and discipline at the same time.
Even after state banquets, her husband was allowed to utter slogans like "If it has four legs and there is no table, the Chinese cook it too".
Elizabeth's position never suffered as a result.
God Save The Queen.
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