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Preview: The Queen’s Diamond Decades – 1950s

Queen Elizabeth’s first years as Queen will soon be aired in Canada and the United States.

Queen Elizabeth II on her coronatioin

Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation

A young 25-year-old Elizabeth was a mother to Prince Charles, three years old and an 18-month-old Princess Anne. In 1952, the sudden death of her father, King George VI, who suffered from lung cancer, Elizabeth found herself as the new Queen far before she ever expected to be. Out of the country at the time, she cancelled the plans for a 5-month trip to Australia and New Zealand to return home.

With Winston Churchill as her first Prime Minister, Britain was still recovering from the war and her coronation brought celebrations across the country- the largest party since VE Day. On 2 June 1953, Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was held at Westminster Abbey and was the first coronation to be televised, even though hardly anyone at that time could afford a tv set. She was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, and Pakistan, as well as taking on the role of Head of the Commonwealth. With the reassurance that rationing was ending, British citizens were delighted with the queen naming the new royal yacht Britannia. The new Queen and Prince Philip took a 6-month trip around the world upon Britannia shortly after her coronation day.

Unfortunately, not all her first years were a party. Horrendous floods terrorized England, and the U.K came to the brink of war with the Suez Crisis. Where Israeli armed forces pushed into Egypt in 1956 after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the  Suez Canal in July of that year.

Luckily, the rapid growth of rock ‘n’ roll and Harold Macmillian brought back Britain on track. As the 1960’s drew near, Queen Elizabeth II had captivated the world. She and Prince Philip were pregnant with their third child and her sister, Princess Margaret, was secretly engaged to be married.

The Queen’s Diamond Decades – 1950s will air in Canada and the United States on Thursday, July 23, 03:00 pm on KCTS 9 HD Seattle/Yakima or KYVE 47 Yakima. 

Photo Credit: BiblioArchives / LibraryArch via Flickr