1952 - DEATH AND GLORY
Accession: February 6, 1952
The nation mourns Death of King George VI in His Sleep. New Queen on Way Home. Proclamation of Accession To-morrow. Thursday February 7, 1952 The news of the sudden death at Sandringham of King George VI was received by the nation with profound sorrow. The announcement from Sandringham at 10.45 yesterday morning said "The King, who retired to rest last night in his usual health, passed peacefully away in his sleep early this morning." King George was 56 years of age and was in the sixteenth year of his reign. A meeting of the Accession Council was held last evening to proclaim the accession of Princess Elizabeth as the new Sovereign. She is now on her way home with the Duke of Edinburgh and the royal aircraft, which left Entebbe (Uganda) at 8.47p.m.yesterday after being delayed for more than two hours by a thunderstorm, is expected to reach London at 4.30 this afternoon. The King's last public appearance was at LondonAirport on Thursday last week to bid them farewell at the beginning of their Commonwealth tour. His death comes four months after his operation for lung resection. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were at Sandringham with the King, who was out on Tuesday morning and also in the afternoon. The news of his death was conveyed to Queen Mary at Marlborough House. The Duke of Gloucester immediately travelled to Sandringham from his Northampton home and the Princess Royal cancelled her projected journey to Switzerland. The Duke of Windsor will sail for England from New York on the Queen Mary today. The Duchess will not sail with him. The Duchess of Kent arrived at Northolt last night from Germany. Arrangements for the lying-in-state and for the funeral must wait on the decisions of the new Queen. After the Prime Minister in the House of Commons and Lord Salisbury in the House of Lords had expressed their grief at the news both Houses adjourned, as did also the courts of justice. Prince Charles is now heir to the throne and his sister Princess Anne becomes second in succession with Princess Margaret third. The Proclamation of Accession to be read to-morrow was signed by members of the Privy Council at St James Palace last night. The text is as follows:- " Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God to call to His mercy our late sovereign lord King George the Sixth of blessed and glorious memory by whose decease the Crown is solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary: we therefore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm being here assisted with these his late Majesty's Privy Council with representatives of other members of the Commonwealth with other Principal Gentlemen of quality with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of London do now hereby with one Voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart publish and proclaim that the High and Mighty Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is now by the death of our late sovereign of happy memory become Queen Elizabeth the Second by the grace of God. Queen of this realm and of her other realms and territories, head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the faith to whom her lieges do acknowledge all Faith and constant Obedience with hearty and humble Affection beseeching God by whom Kings and Queens do reign, to bless the Royal Princess Elizabeth the second with long and happy years to reign over us. God save the Queen". The coronation of Queen Elizabeth The assurance of a true monarch | A young life dedicated | Acclamations and silences in the abbey service Harry Boardman Wednesday June 3, 1953 Westminster Abbey At the opening of to-day's thousand-year-old rite the Archbishop of Canterbury presented Queen Elizabeth to the people as our "undoubted Queen", that is by hereditary right. Three hours later she went forth from the Abbey, amid the greatest rejoicing, a crowned and consecrated Queen. No such delight has hailed a Sovereign's Coronation before. It is easy to fall into hyperbole at such moments of mass emotion as this, but there is no exaggeration here. Others of our Queens, Elizabeth I and Victoria, for example, have swayed the hearts of their people after a time, but Elizabeth II captured them from the start. She has done it not merely in virtue of her youth and grace, but because she joins to these qualities the high seriousness we have come to associate with the House of Windsor. That gravity was hers today, and perfectly attuned to the occasion. It made its subtle appeal to all hearts. It stirred the sense of a young woman set apart and dedicated and even a little lonely and greatly deserving a nation's affection and support. Glowing Canvas Throughout the ritual the theatre glowed like the canvas of a great Renaissance colourist. There was the Queen in her golden robes. There were the Archbishops with their mitres and copes: Canterbury's different from York's in colouring, but both ornate. Canterbury's cope was the more beautiful. It was of a cream shade covered with a delicate gold design. Then there was the whole bench of Bishops in scarlet and white ranged along the north side of the theatre. One thought one caught a faint ecstasy of cheers announcing the long wait was over and members of the Royal Family were approaching. The Princess Royal was the first to enter the West Door. The Duchess of Gloucester and the Duchess of Kent came quickly after her. Then arrived the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Each in turn, with their train bearers, proceeded to the royal gallery, south of the chancel. The Queen Mother might have her beautiful robes, long train, and many scintillating jewels, but people remarked on her smile. Could there be a greater compliment to a woman? The infant Duke of Cornwall was taken into the royal gallery unobserved. Salutations and Silences It was at 11 15 exactly that the choir raised their voices gloriously. " I was glad when they said unto me". The words ended a long stillness. The Queen had emerged through the West Door and begun her slow walk - so slow -up the nave, preceded first byy the Duke of Edinburgh and in front of him all the clergy and notables. "Vivat! Regina Elizabetha," cried the Westminster boys a number of times, and they did it with a will. Their boyish hearts were in this salutation to their young Queen. And then a great silence. All through the ritual there were these intense pauses. Such profound silence - remember it was being imposed on eight thousand people - seemed almost to lift the ceremonial for the time being to higher than the mundane level.
