In a new documentary about the Queen, her former lady-in-waiting revealed the moment she was told her father had died.
Her Majesty became Queen on the day her father, George VI, died in February 1952.
However, Princess Elizabeth, then aged 25, was in Kenya on a royal tour when she learned of her father’s death.
In ITV’s My Years with the Queen – which airs tonight – a close friend to the Queen, Lady Pamela Hicks, discussed the moment Prince Philip broke the news to his wife.
What did Lady Pamela say about the Queen in the ITV documentary?
The Queen and her party were staying at the Treetops hotel in Kenya when the news of her father’s death broke.
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Speaking about Philip being told the news first, Lady Pamela says: “He was reading a newspaper…
“…and covers his face with the newspaper and says, ‘Oh god, this will be such a shock.'”
She adds: “He says to [Princess Elizabeth], ‘We’ve not walked round the garden at all, come and have a little walk and I’ll show you the trouts.'”
How did Her Majesty react to the news?
Lady Pamela says she watched from the house as Philip told his wife the news.
The couple stood on a little bridge above a stream in the garden.
She continues: “You could see the moment she’s been told, the body language.
“She stopped walking and slumped a bit. And one thought, how awful for her.”
In addition, she said: “She comes back into the house and I give her a hug thinking her father, who she adored, has just died.
“Then I think, ‘Oh my God, she’s Queen.’
“So I drop into a deep curtsy and she says, ‘I’m so sorry, this means we’ve all got to go back.'”
Meanwhile, Lady Pamela goes on to discuss the Queen’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey in June 1953.
She says: “Seeing her, this young woman of 27, utterly alone, I wondered how she’ll have the strength to undertake this duty all her life.
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“I think one knew she would because there was such inner strength there.”
My Years with the Queen airs on ITV, tonight, at 9pm.
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