Royal family waves to the crowds after Queen Elizabeth II coronation

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February 6, 1952 — 71 years ago to the day — marked the death of King George VI and the accession of his daughter Queen Elizabeth II. Aged 56, George died peacefully in his sleep when a blood clot caused his heart to stop. At the time, then-Princess Elizabeth was thousands of miles away in Kenya, visiting as part of a Commonwealth tour with her husband Prince Philip. The Duke of Edinburgh was informed of the news first and was given the difficult task of telling his wife.

As The Daily Express recorded at the time, the Queen was devastated; “she wept like a 25-year-old girl who lost her father”. Upon hearing the news, the royal couple flew back to Britain with Elizabeth touching down as the newly-appointed Queen. While the new monarch reportedly acted with a sense of duty in public, in private she was heartbroken, a sentiment she shared in a touching letter to her father’s former staffer weeks later. 

The letter, written on mourning paper, revealed the Queen’s shock over the death of her father. It was addressed to Sir Eric Mieville, who served as King George’s assistant private secretary from 1936 to 1945, and written just one month after Elizabeth ascended the throne. 

In the note, she confesses her disbelief at George’s death, writing: “It all seems so unbelievable still that my father is no longer here and it is only after some time has passed one begins to realise how much he is missed.”

Dated March 3, 1952, she signed the letter with her new signature as monarch, “Elizabeth R”. 

The letter was bought by a private collector at auction 15 years ago. In 2015, royal memorabilia specialist Ian Shapiro told the Daily Mirror: “This is a very personal letter at a moment of deep emotion. The young Queen goes to the heart of her family in reflecting on the loss of her father and the King.”

The Queen was just 25 years old when her father died after she had embarked on the Commonwealth tour in his place. Accompanied by Prince Philip, the princess left London just days before his death, with George defying the guidance of his closest advisors to see his elder daughter off. 

His appearance at the airport marked his final public appearance and the last time the young princess would see her father. 

George had been suffering from a prolonged illness but had reportedly been in high spirits in the days before his death.  

The Daily Mirror reported at the time: “For all Tuesday the King was out with his neighbour, Lord Fermoy, shooting on the estate…The King went out after breakfast at 9.40, lunched at the Flitcham village hall, and did not return to Sandringham until dusk. It was a dry day, but chilly, and the King bagged nine hares.

“…It was only a few hours that changed the atmosphere of Sandringham House from happiness to tragedy.”

Servants at Sandringham had been preparing to wake the King for his morning bath, but when the monarch did not wake from his slumber as usual, his valet James McDonald and page Maurice Watts soon got the feeling something was seriously wrong.

A doctor was called and he confirmed the King had died in his sleep. 

In Kenya, the news came from journalist Granville Roberts, who worked on the East African Standard and was covering the royal visit.

The message was then passed to Lieutenant Colonel Martin Charteris, the Princess’ private secretary and Commander Michael Parker, who worked alongside the Duke of Edinburgh. 

Commander Parker recalled the moment he found out the King had died. Speaking on the 2020 National Geographic documentary Being the Queen, the former royal courtier said: “We had a day out so they [Elizabeth and Philip] had to adjust and rest and do things.

“Prince Philip went to sleep in a little room that was off to one side. The Queen was at a desk writing letters. The phone rang, my colleague said, ‘Mike, there’s a ghastly rumour going around that the King has died.’”

He continued: “They [the press] were saying that they had heard [the rumour]. So I said, ‘Well, Martin, that’s frightening but I can’t do a thing on a rumour like that. I mean, I just won’t do anything.’ And he said, ‘No, I’m not suggesting that you do.’ 

“I saw a radio on the shelf above me and there’s a door to the room where the Queen is sitting, so I shut the door and switched on the radio and hunted about for the BBC. Then I could hear the bell of Big Ben. My hair stood up a little bit more. And that was that.”

Commander Parker awoke the Duke of Edinburgh from his afternoon nap to tell him of his father-in-law’s death.

The Prince “just stood there silently in thought — perhaps about the implication of the fact that she is becoming Queen — then he straightened himself up and he went in to tell the Queen”. 

Philip took his wife for a walk around the grounds, informing her of her father’s death and that she was now monarch. 

Once back in the UK, she read the Accession Declaration, marking the end of her father’s reign and the beginning of her own. It was a reign that saw her become Britain’s longest-serving monarch, overtaking Queen Victoria and becoming the first British Sovereign to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. 

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