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N0KFQ > TODAY 06.02.14 18:04l 56 Lines 2559 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 6
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Sent: 140206/1602Z 12228@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.58
Feb 6, 1952:
Elizabeth becomes queen
On this day in 1952, after a long illness, King George VI of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland dies in his sleep at the royal
estate at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth, the oldest of the
king's two daughters and next in line to succeed him, was in
Kenya at the time of her father's death; she was crowned Queen
Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, at age 27.
King George VI, the second son of King George V, ascended to the
throne in 1936 after his older brother, King Edward VIII,
voluntarily abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
During World War II, George worked to rally the spirits of the
British people by touring war zones, making a series of
morale-boosting radio broadcasts (for which he overcame a speech
impediment) and shunning the safety of the countryside to remain
with his wife in bomb-damaged Buckingham Palace. The king's
health deteriorated in 1949, but he continued to perform state
duties until his death in 1952.
Queen Elizabeth, born on April 21, 1926, and known to her family
as Lilibet, was groomed as a girl to succeed her father. She
married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten, on November 20,
1947, at London's Westminster Abbey. The first of Elizabeth's
four children, Prince Charles, was born in 1948.
From the start of her reign, Elizabeth understood the value of
public relations and allowed her 1953 coronation to be televised,
despite objections from Prime Minister Winston Churchill and
others who felt it would cheapen the ceremony. Elizabeth, the
40th British monarch since William the Conqueror, has worked hard
at her royal duties and become a popular figure around the world.
In 2003, she celebrated 50 years on the throne, only the fifth
British monarch to do so.
The queen's reign, however, has not been without controversy. She
was seen as cold and out-of-touch following the 1996 divorce of
her son, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana, and again after
Diana's 1997 death in a car crash. Additionally, the role in
modern times of the monarchy, which is largely ceremonial, has
come into question as British taxpayers have complained about
covering the royal family's travel expenses and palace upkeep.
Still, the royals are effective world ambassadors for Britain and
a huge tourism draw. Today, the queen, an avid horsewoman and
Corgi dog lover, is one of the world's wealthiest women, with
extensive real-estate holdings and art and jewelry collections.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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