In 1951, when her the Queen’s father’s health deteriorated, Elizabeth filled in for him at several official engagements. After spending Christmas with the royal family, Elizabeth and Philip embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, stopping in Kenya along the way.
On February 6, 1952, they were in Kenya when King George VI died of lung cancer at the age of 56, and his 25-year-old daughter became the sixth woman in history to come to the British throne. Her ceremonial coronation as Queen Elizabeth II took place in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.
Do Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip have the same great grandparents?
Queen Elizabeth: Christian IX was Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandfather. Prince Philip’s paternal great-grandfather was King Christian IX of Denmark.
She maintained numerous thoroughbred racehorses as queen and regularly visited racing and breeding activities. Elizabeth’s famed affinity to Pembroke Welsh corgis began while she was a kid, and she would possess more than 30 corgis during her reign.
