The young Princess Elizabeth was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Together with her sister Princess Margaret, who was born when Elizabeth was six years old, she enjoyed a quiet life with her family; they resided at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park and the four of them were very close.
At the time Princess Elizabeth stood third in line of succession to the throne after her uncle, Edward Prince of Wales and her father. It was not expected that her father would become King, or that she would become Queen.
However, when her grandfather, King George V died in 1936, his eldest son acceded the throne as King Edward VIII and the young Princessʼ future began to unfold. Before the end of the year, King Edward VIII decided to give up the throne in order to marry the woman he loved, American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Upon his abdication, Princess Elizabeth's father acceded as King George VI, and Elizabeth was now first inline to the throne.
Fifteen years later, on 6th February 1952, King George VI died at Sandringham Estate, the private retreat of The Royal Family. Princess Elizabeth heard the news whilst on holiday with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, in Kenya prior to their tour of Australia and New Zealand. Although her father had been ill, it was thought that his health was improving but he died shortly after seeing off his daughter and son-in-law at Londonʼs Heathrow Airport. Elizabeth returned home to England the next day with her husband where she was greeted by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. On 8th February, the Accession Council took place at St Jamesʼs Palace, attended by 175 Privy Councillors, at which time Queen Elizabeth II read her Accession Declaration and signed two copies of the Accession document. Proclamations of the Queenʼs Accession took place in many parts of the United Kingdom including Windsor Castle, the residence which had been most favoured by George VI. As well as being read out at Castle Hill and the Henry VIII Gateway at Windsor Castle, and at nearby Eton, with the States Trumpeters contributing to the ceremony, the Accession Proclamation was also read out during an impressive gathering in Jersey in the Royal Square, St Helier on 9 February 1952.
