The abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 changed Princess Elizabeth’s life forever. Her father was suddenly King and from that moment his young 10-year-old daughter began to be groomed for the Crown - her destiny altered irrevocably.

Elizabeth was born only third in line to throne.  If Edward had remained King and had fathered children, it is unlikely she would ever have become monarch.

When he signed his instrument of abdication on December 10, 1936, and made his “final and irrevocable” decision to step down because of his love for American divorcee Wallis Simpson, the monarchy was plunged into a major constitutional crisis and there were fears the institution itself would not survive.

The Queen Mother, previously the Duchess of York before becoming Queen Elizabeth, was greatly concerned.  She believed that her shy stammering husband did not have the right temperament to be King and pleaded with her brother in law not to put his feelings before the nation, but to no avail.

When Edward eventually chose Mrs Simpson, `Bertie’ reportedly broke down and “sobbed like a child” and the Queen Mother accused Edward of a “shameful dereliction of duty”. She is said to have never forgiven Edward nor Mrs Simpson for their actions which changed the course of royal history.

Rumours over whether the Queen would ever abdicate came up now and then.  Some believed she would step down to pave the way for the Prince of Wales. Others hoped the crown would be handed straight to Prince William. But the Queen insisted that this job was one for life.

On her 21st birthday, she made her now famous radio broadcast from Cape Town in South Africa in 1947 on her first official overseas visit, declaring: “My whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.” 

On June 2, 1953, she delivered her Coronation oath watched by millions of people, glued to their neighbours’ new television sets, 
She later pledged on the evening of the historic occasion: “Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.” 

In her 1991 Christmas message, she reiterated such feelings, saying: “I feel the same obligation to you that I felt in 1952. With your prayers, and your help, and with the love and support of my family, I shall try to serve you in the years to come.”


Around the time of Charles’s 50th birthday, one TV documentary suggested the Prince would be delighted if his mother stepped aside.
Unusually, Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace issued a statement stressing that the assertion was “not only offensive but also completely wrong”. “There is no-one with a greater sense of duty and loyalty than The Queen,” the Prince remarked.

Bizarre flurries of bets at bookmakers cropped up occasionally predicting she would abdicate, but the Queen remained on the throne to the very end.


One of the most famous images of her shortly after she became Queen was of the slim, pale figure, dressed in mourning black, descending the steps of a jet airliner. It was dusk on February 7, 1952, and the new Queen had flown back to Britain from Kenya, 4,000 miles away, where news of King George VI’s death had reached her during a Commonwealth tour. 

It was the Duke that broke the sad news to his wife while they were alone.  It was 2.45pm in Kenya and Elizabeth had been resting after spending the night at the Treetops Hotel, in Aberdare Forest, watching big game. 

A message was given to Philip by his equerry and friend Mike Parker that the King was dead.  Just hours later they were on their way back home. 


With the King’s health failing when they had left home, a Royal Standard had been stowed in the baggage.  Elizabeth’s mourning clothes were now taken out and prepared for her to wear.
 
A heavy smoker, the King’s health had begun to deteriorate by 1948. He had been suffering from pains in his leg for some time and was diagnosed as having arteriosclerosis.  There was some danger that gangrene would set in and that his right leg would have to be amputated. 

In March 1949, he underwent surgery but, after a period of recovery, a shadow was detected on the King’s lung in May 1951. In September, a malignant growth was discovered. 

The King was not informed of this diagnosis but an operation was performed to remove his left lung. 

Elizabeth and Philip had made their first major tour together to Canada and the United States in October and November 1951.
The King rallied and seemed to recover. But George VI died in his sleep at Sandringham, the royal estate in Norfolk, on February 6. 

Prime Minister Winston Churchill told the House of Commons: “During these last months, the King walked with death, as if death were a companion, an acquaintance whom he recognised and did not fear.” 

After a long journey home, the young Queen set foot on British soil - the runway at London Airport - for the first time as Sovereign.  The flight was met by the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, with Opposition Leader Clement Attlee and the Duke of Gloucester.

On February 8, Elizabeth II was formally proclaimed Queen at a meeting of the Accession Council in St James’s Palace to which all members of the Privy Council were summoned.  Members of the House of Lords, the Lord Mayor, aldermen and other leading citizens of the City of London, and the high commissioners in London of member nations of the Commonwealth were also invited to attend.
 
The Queen succeeded to the throne immediately her father died, so Accession Day on February 6, which she marked privately each year at Sandringham, was always tinged with sadness. 

In 1952, the nation mourned the King’s death and had to wait until June 2, the following year, for the Coronation and celebration of a new Elizabethan era. 

The Queen’s father was laid to rest in the vault of his ancestors at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, on February 15.  A day of ceremony began when the simple oak coffin containing the King’s body was moved from Westminster Hall where some 305,800 people had filed past to pay their last respects. 

As the coffin left Westminster on a gun carriage, Big Ben rang out, one chime a minute to mark the 56 years of the King’s life. 

Men of the Household Cavalry in ceremonial dress marched in slow time to Paddington Station where the Royal Train was waiting. 

The solemn cortege passed Marlborough House, on The Mall, where Queen Mary, the King’s mother, appeared at a window, across which a blind was half drawn, and bowed her head. The King was the third of her sons to die. 

Her granddaughter was now Queen at the age of just 25.