Queen heartbreak: The Queen's personal tragedy on the most important day of her life
THE QUEEN marked a huge milestone on Thursday, but the special anniversary comes with a sadder one, too.
Queen's 68th year anniversary on throne marked by gun salutes
February 6 marks the 68th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne, making her the fifth longest-serving monarch of all time and Britain’s longest ever. This also means, however, that it’s the 68th anniversary of her beloved father’s death.
On February 6, 1952, the Queen - then Princess Elizabeth - was on tour in Kenya with Prince Philip.
The couple had just returned from a retreat at the Treetops Hotel, and were in good spirits.
The news - King George VI had died - was first delivered to Prince Philip.
He broke the news to his 25-year-old wife that her father had succumbed after a battle with cancer.
The King, who ascended to the throne himself following the abdication of his elder brother, Edward, passed away from a coronary thrombosis in his sleep aged just 56.
Commander Michael Parker, who was with the couple at the time, recalled: “Philip looked as if you’d dropped half the world on him.
“He took Elizabeth up to the garden and they walked up and down the lawn while he talked and talked and talked to her.
She was sitting erect, fully accepting her destiny. I asked her what name she would take, ‘My own, of course.’”
The couple flew back to London immediately, and Princess Elizabeth began her duties as the Queen of England.
Of course, the young Queen was also dealing with the grief of losing her father, so the accession anniversary is not celebrated by the royals.
Instead, the day is marked in private at the Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Gun salutes by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Green Park and the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London will be fired to mark the occasion, as is tradition.
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The Queen, now 93, is only three years away from her Platinum Jubilee – 70 years on the throne – which would be the first for a British sovereign.
In 2015, the Queen thanked the nation for its kind messages after overtaking Queen Victoria to become the nation’s longest-reigning monarch.
She admitted in her usual no-nonsense manner that the royal record was “not one to which I have ever aspired”.
She added: “Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception.”
Now, Elizabeth II has ruled for 24,837 days, passing her Silver, Golden, Diamond and Sapphire Jubilees.
After spending a quiet day with her family, she will return to London and get back to work.
Never one to shy away from her duties, one of the Queen’s most famous quote, said on her 21st birthday, is: “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
At 93, the Queen has proven this to be true.