If I was to ask you what you were doing on Wednesday 6 February 1952 you might scratch your head and wonder why I was asking. On the other hand, it might feel like a very different question to ask if you remember where you were when King George VI died.

If you do have a memory of the moment you first heard "The King is dead. Long live the Queen" I would love to hear from you. Maybe our young members might like to ask their grandparents or older relatives and friends ... and our middle-aged readers can take their cue from that as well !!

It's well known that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were staying in Treetops Hotel in Kenya when her father died. She went to bed a princess and woke up Queen. It would be fascinating to hear from you about how you learnt that King George had died: how old were you, where were you, who told you, what happened next and, if you can recall, how did you feel?

She was 25 when her father died: very young for any daughter to mourn the death of her father. That means she was just ten years older than Prince William was when his mother, Diana, died. I know there are many elements of the two events that are very different: but I find the ages interesting.

The history books tells us that it wasn't long before crowds began to gather outside Buckingham Palace and they grew so large that the police had to be called in to keep them to the pavement. Flags flew at half mast, cinemas and theatres closed and the BBC cancelled all its programmes except for news bulletins. 

This Sunday, as is also well known, she will reach the milestone never before achieved by a British monarch: a platinum jubilee. Seventy years of loyal duty and public service all in the eyes of increasingly sharp focussed public gaze. In 1952 there was the print media and the BBC which had only one TV channel and (I think) three national radio stations. Now we are all 'citizen journalists' giving our views - educated or not - across many digital platforms to anyone who will take any notice. 

The last two years have been historical in their own right. This weekend (and the Bank Holiday weekend later in the year) offer us an opportunity to balance the trauma and the challenges we have faced together with an equally significant opportunity to celebrate together. And so on Sunday, with churches and with people of goodwill up and down the land, we shall pray for Her Majesty the Queen, give thanks for her life of service and recognize this remarkable moment in our shared history.

Dan Tyndall

4 Feb 2022