On this day 60 year ago, Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya with her husband Philip on the way to a planned tour of Australia and New Zealand, when her father George VI died. Elizabeth was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to England. Her subsequent 60-year reign is the second-longest of any British monarch and will become the longest in another four years.
Queen Elizabeth’s coronation ceremony was held on 2nd June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. Later the same year she became the first reigning monarch to visit New Zealand, and then in 1954 Australia. After the second world war, Britain was looking forward to a new era of peace and prosperity, and Elizabeth’s accession heralded the start of a new “Elizabethan era”. During the 1950s and 1960s the Queen’s realms shrank as African nations achieved their independence from Britain.
Although there have been numerous scandals involving the Queen’s children and other members of the Royal Family, the Queen herself is still widely admired and well regarded, perhaps a key reason why attempts at abolishing the monarchy in Australia have so far been unsuccessful. Last year’s visit to Australia was her 16th since 1954, and she is the second-longest-serving current head of state.