Happy 70th Accession Day Your Majesty

Her Majesty the Queen celebrates 70 years on the throne

Today, Sunday, February 6, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrates the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne, after the death in his sleep, of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952, at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

At the time of her father’s passing, the then 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth was on a Royal Tour on behalf of the King, with Prince Philip, in Kenya, Africa. The tour was rapidly abandoned, and the Princess returned to Britain as a new Queen. She acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952.

No British Monarch has ever reached this milestone of 70 years of reign. Queen Victoria reached 63 years and seven months.

The actual coronation of Queen Elizabeth took place more than a year after she became the monarch, with the official date being June 2, 1953. To celebrate this, a weekend of festivities is planned for the kingdom this year, starting on June 2.

The 95-year-old monarch is currently at Sandringham, just as she always is on this date. Yesterday, Saturday 5, she kicked off her Platinum Jubilee celebrations by hosting a special reception in the Sandringham House ballroom.

Her Majesty was presented with a locally-baked cake during the event. On being handed a large knife, and asked to cut the first slice, the Queen displayed her wonderful sense of humour, as she quipped to her guests, “I think I might just put the knife in it. Someone else can do the rest”.

She also cracked a joke about the decorative Platinum Jubilee emblem that had been iced onto the cake. In order for the press to see it, the cake had been turned to face them, so it was the wrong way round for her. “They can see it”, she joked. Adding, “I don’t mind, I don’t matter…Well, I think I can probably read it upside down”.

Members of the Sandringham branch of the Women’s Institute were present at the reception. Her Majesty has been a member since 1943, and their President since 2003.

Another attendee was Mrs Angela Wood, a local lady who had helped to create the original recipe for Coronation chicken, which was presented to Buckingham Palace when Queen Elizabeth was crowned in 1953.

According to statements from the Palace, Angela and the Queen chatted extensively about how she developed the famous formula.
For the occasion, tiny bite-size morsels of Coronation chicken tartlet had been created by a junior sous chef, Shaun Mason. He carried his creation into the ballroom on a tray and announced to the Queen and Mrs Wood that they were available to be sampled. Shaun had made savoury tartlets containing chicken with curry spices, and apricot.
In another moment of sublime humour, the Queen quipped to Mrs Wood, “I’ll go away”, and then turned to add, “You can tell me what you think when I come back”, sending the guests into raptures of laughter, as reported by dailymail.co.uk.

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