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pag two coronation supplement may 158 early life of gracious princess taught responsibilities dramatic turn of events resulted in accession to thron 3 in the dim early hours of april 21 1926 a gin as born to the gracious young duchess of york and the world re joiced few suspected that the baby princess baptized elizabeth alexandra mary would ever become the second elizabeth to sit on englands throne nobody at that time even though it probable that the duke of york would ever become king king george v strong soldierly and upright gave promise of living for many years to come his eldest son edward prince of wales was next in line of succession and was immensely popular the shy retiring albert duke of york was only second in the line of succession yet there were some who realized that there was a pos sibility that elizabeth might some day become queen al though they could hardly have forseen the dramatic turn of events which was to lead to her succession the princesss initiation into the limitations of royal life began when she was only eight months old her mother and father had to be separated from her for six months while they went to australia to inaugurate the new capital her early years were spent at 145 piccadilly into which her parents moved shortly after their arrival home it was a happy environment spacious rooms quiet but elegant period furniture a courtyard just large enough to shut out the noise of the piccadilly traffic a small garden at the back facing directly the undulating greensward of hyde park when learning to talk the princess mispronounced her name lilibet a mistake which sounded so attractive that it was at once adopted and retain- ed lilibet was a great favorite with her grandparents and espec ially with her grandfather king george v she was a lovely child but it was her odd mixture of im pish candor and seriousness which endeared her to him he laughing ly told her with truth that she was the only person in the world ever to order him to shut the door when she was four her sister margaret was born and thereafter they were inseparable most of her early childhood years were spent in the country at one of the family houses at historic glnmis castle complete with its ghost or the royal lodge at windsor private tutoring lilibets upbringing was strict but not repressive she was taught at home because a princess at school attracts too much attention her mother taught her to read and private tutors took over teaching her french and german by the time she was 10 in addition to music history and other subjects she had her first piano lesson at the age of four disliked geography but was fascinated by history in which had she chosen she could have earned an honours degree and underlying it all discipline she saw examples everywhere around her she saw her parents cope with the neverceasing round of duties the endless correspon dence the constant callers there were charities to be encouraged new projects to be inspected im portant visitors to entertain from all parts of the world these crush ing demands she saw accepted with grace good humour and genuine interest duty came first self last her grandmother queen mary once gave her a salutary lesson in this girlishly she enjoyed being photographed being cheered by waiting crowds and having kisses blown at her on her visit to olympia with her grandmother she said wont the people be pleased to see me when we leave lilibet was packed straight off home with a nurse by a side door where the crowds couldnt see her move to buckingham palace then at the age of 10 the prin cess childhood was virtually end ed grandfather had died the ab dication of king edward viii shook the englishspeaking world her father became king george vi from that day her upbringing was even more exacting she mov ed with her family to buckingham palace direct in line of succession she was trained in all she must know the relations between var ious commonwealth governments and the home country the con stitutional status of a king the workings of the immensely com plicated royal household calmly and goodhumou redly she took it all in her stride she found time for plenty of reading enjoy ing the works of e m forester alexander woolcott h g wells and somerset maugham she de veloped musical preferences play ing beethovens fifth symphony whenever she could yet until 1945 she had never been to a cinema ridden on a bus or been in a sub way train served with ats in march 1945 the princess was gazetted honorary second subal tern in the ats auxiliary terri torial service by the age of 18 she was appointed a councillor of state during the kings absence in the field of battle she was an ef ficient driver in the war and had insisted on joining the ats al though her father wondered at the british travel association photo her majesty queen elizabeth ii wisdom of the heir to the throne exposing herself to the risks of active service in the forces they found the princess cool cheerful and willing gradually however she emerged as a public figure her broadcast to the children of the empire dur ing the battle of britain so clear and spirited began it all royal duties a visit to northern ireland to launch a ship the proclamation peace the tremendous ovation giv en to her family outside bucking ham palace her first journey out side the british isles with her parents on their visit to south africa and rhodesia and back to london and romance rumor had long linked her name with prince philip of greece the little golden- haired girl was now in the full bloom of womanhood philip the handsome sailor whom she had known since they were children shared her love of music interests and hobbies she made her choice it was a love match and her par ents gave it their blessing the nation rejoiced she had enjoyed a short era of adult freedom theatres and oine- mas dances and parties now her public duties multiplied and were added to the cares of a home but everyone who saw her during her trip to canada representing her father at the trooping of the colour in 1951 and taking the salute knew that she had achieved full stature here we knew was somebody who could be queen then tragically his majesty king george vi succumbed to the intolerable burdens he had endured without complaint for his peoples good for lilibet the freedom of childhood was now far behind for with one voice and consent of tongue and heart the high and mighty princess elizabeth alex andra mary was proclaimed queen elizabeth the second britons to see religious play in abbey westminster abbey for the fiist time in history will be the scon of a religious play shortly after the coronation first performance is june 15 this will be the first chance for the public to see the abbev in its coronation setting composer sir win walton writes coronation march orb and sceptre is the title of march which the arts council of great britain hat commissioned from the composer sir william walton in honour of the corona tion the march will beplayed for the first time on coronation day- june 2 in the program of music to be performed in westminster abbey london before the cere mony begins the first public con cert performance will be given in the royal festival hall on june 7 by the london symphony orches tra under the direction of sir john barbirolli o acorns from royal oaks for northerti ireland in connection with northern lie- lands plans for celebrating th coronation a novel scheme hat been launched by the ulster so ciety for the preservation of the countryside fifteen thousand acorns will be obtained from the royal oak trees in windsor great park england and planted throughout northern ireland most of the acorns will be distributed through the schools and remain der will be issued to private in dividuals the spirit of coronation year is reflected in the new colours issued for the spring and summer of 1953 by the british colour council 13 portman square london wl the colours are for knitwear wool silk and rayon cotton and leather the 33 colours on the wool card have been arranged to give alter native suggestions for harmoniz ing and contrasting colour there are 30 colours for silk and rayon 22 for cotton and 18 for leather wst m 4 v coronation f her majesty qjjeen elizabeth ii by command of the queen the earl marshal is directed to invite to be present at the abbey church of westminster on the 2nd day of june j 953 the queens busy day f jsrjf reproduction of the actual koal imitation sent to those etrl mmhl british travel avwfflatl attending the coronation service one of the worlds busiest people in role of monarch wife mother by any computation the present queen is one of the if not actually the busiest women in the world it could be said that all lines of communication in an empire covering nearly a quarter of the worlds land surface meet at a central point known as buckingham palace the queen is not only the personification of the state in law she is the supreme authority an integral part of the legislature this- makes her the head of the judiciary in england and wales and scotland head of the army navy and air force and the sole representative of the nation in international affairs of course in process of history many of these prerog atives have become restricted today the queen acts on the advice of her ministers advice which she cannot constitu tionally ignore and the supreme legislative authority is the house of commons and the house of lords which be tween them represent all elements of the nation but this does not mean that the queens duties are nominal far from it they are onerous and they are im portant the queen reigns if she does not rule she sum monses prorogues and dissolves parliament she opens the new session with a speech from the throne a bill which has been passed by both legislative houses requires her consent before it becomes law the jurisdictions of the courts de rive from her she makes appointments of peerages knight hoods and suchlike honours as head of the established church of england she is concerned with appointments within it her approval is required for a minister to assume office or a cabinet to be formed add to these duties of the queen the manifold demands of participation in the ceremonial and public life of the nation and one sees to quote mrs roosevelt how heavy a burden lies on such young shoulders the queens diary is invariably crowded britains new ambassador to turkey must be received before departing continued on page 5