queen elizabeth
Heartbreaking letter to her father – but he couldn’t read it anymore
King George and Princess Elizabeth had a very close relationship.
© Lisa Sheridan/Getty Images
70 years ago today, Queen Elizabeth enjoyed a carefree day in the wilderness of Kenya. A few hours later she wrote down her exciting experiences in a letter to her father. But by then the monarch had already died.
For Queen Elizabeth, 95, it was a journey that would change her life. For the first time, her father King George, † 56, gave his successor to the throne a state-supporting task. Because he was in poor health, he sent her and her husband Prince Philip, † 99, on tour through half the Empire. They started in Kenya, then other African colonies were to be visited. In addition, the Fiji Islands, New Zealand, Australia and Ceylon, today’s Sri Lanka.
Queen Elizabeth experienced her last carefree hours in the jungle
Unfortunately, the royals and their entourage did not get far. After visiting Nairobi, the couple moved to Sagana Lodge at the foot of Mount Kenya. A small estate given to Elizabeth and her husband for their wedding. From there, a few days later, they went to Aberdare National Park, where the couple stayed in a tree house and explored the jungle during the day.
Upon returning to her lodge, Princess Elizabeth immediately grabbed pen and paper. All these fascinating experiences had to be shared with the father who stayed at home. She was particularly taken with the impressive African wildlife that regularly gathered at the watering hole below the tree house. But the king was never to find out more about her inspiring experiences.
She was the last to know of her father’s death
The whole world knew of King George’s death when his daughter wrote the lilting lines. Only a little later did the sad news reach the servants of the princess.
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Philip is said to have taken on the difficult task of informing his wife of the great loss. Suddenly Elizabeth was the king – and her letter to her beloved father never reached its addressee.
Source used: mirror.co.uk