On this day'¦ 1952: Princess Elizabeth proclaimed Queen

On February 8 1952, Princess Elizabeth formally proclaimed herself Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, and Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith at St James's Palace.
Queen Elizabeth II.Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Elizabeth II.

Following the death of her father two days earlier, the new monarch addressed 150 Lords of the Council, plus Commonwealth representatives and officials from the City of London, including the Lord Mayor, as well as her husband Prince Philip of Greece, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Queen Elizabeth II said: “By the sudden death of my dear father I am called to assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty.”

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“My heart is too full for me to say more to you today than I shall always work, as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over.”

Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation would later be held in Westminster Abbey on June 2 1953.