Message:23425 In: TODAY.WW
From: KF5JRVDate: Tue, 02 Jun 26 08:52:00 Z
Newsgroups: TODAY.WW
Subject: Today in History - Jun 02
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On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II is formally crowned monarch of the United Kingdom in a lavish ceremony steeped in tradition
s that date back a millennium. A thousand dignitaries and guests attended the coronation at London’s Westminster Abbey, and h
undreds of millions listened on radio and for the first time watched the proceedings on live television. After the ceremony, mi
llions of rain-drenched spectators cheered the 27-year-old queen and her husband, the 31-year-old duke of Edinburgh, as they pa
ssed along a five-mile procession route in a gilded horse-drawn carriage.
Elizabeth, born in 1926, was the first-born daughter of Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George, the second son of King George V.
Her grandfather died in 1936, and her uncle was proclaimed King Edward VIII. Later that year, however, Edward abdicated over t
he controversy surrounding his decision to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American divorcee, and Elizabeth’s father was pr
oclaimed King George VI in his place.
During the Battle of Britain, Princess Elizabeth and her only sibling, Princess Margaret, lived away from London in the safety
of the countryside, but their parents endeared themselves to their subjects by remaining in bomb-damaged Buckingham Palace thro
ughout the German air offensive. Later in the war, Elizabeth trained as a second lieutenant in the women’s services and drove
and repaired military trucks.
In 1947, she married her distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark who renounced his titles in
order to marry Elizabeth. He was made duke of Edinburgh on the eve of the wedding. The celebrations surrounding the wedding of
the popular princess lifted the spirits of the people of Britain, who were enduring economic difficulties in the aftermath of W
orld War II. Their first child, Prince Charles, was born in 1948 at Buckingham Palace. A second, Princess Anne, was born in 195
0. On February 6, 1952, the royal couple were in Kenya in the midst of a goodwill tour when they learned the king had died.
Elizabeth was immediately proclaimed Britain’s new monarch but remained in seclusion for the first three months of her reign
as she mourned her father. During the summer of 1952, she began to perform routine duties of the sovereign, and in November she
carried out her first state opening of the Parliament. On June 2, 1953, her coronation was held at Westminster Abbey.
The ceremony at Westminster was one of pomp and pageantry, and the characteristically poised Elizabeth delivered in a solemn an
d clear voice the coronation oath that bound her to the service of the people of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth. In
the procession through the streets of London that followed, Elizabeth and her husband were joined by representatives from the
more than 40 member states of the Commonwealth, including heads of state, sultans, and prime ministers. British troops like the
Yeomen of the Guard were joined by a great variety of Commonwealth troops, including police from the Solomon Islands, Malaysia
ns in white uniforms and green sarongs, Pakistanis in puggaree headdresses, Canadian Mounties, and New Zealanders and Australia
ns in wide-brimmed hats. After the parade, Elizabeth stood with her family on the Buckingham Palace balcony and waved to the cr
owd as jet planes of the Royal Air Force flew across the Mall in tight formation.
In seven decades of rule, Queen Elizabeth II’s popularity hardly subsided. She traveled more extensively than any other Briti
sh monarch and was the first reigning British monarch to visit South America and the Persian Gulf countries.
Elizabeth died on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96. At the time of her death she was the longest-reigning monarch in British
history. Her eldest son Charles ascended to the throne and was coronated as King on May 6, 2023. His wife, Camilla, became Quee
n.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.co
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