Queen marks 67th anniversary in private as York gun salute rings out
IT IS a national anniversary but also a private moment of mourning. The Queen marked yesterday’s anniversary of her accession to the throne, as she always does, in private, reflecting on the death of her father.
The 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth became Queen on February 6 1952, 67 years ago, when George VI died in his sleep from lung cancer at Sandringham House. He was 56.
She heard the news in Kenya, during a Commonwealth tour with the Duke of Edinburgh.
She was at Sandringham yesterday, on her winter break, as the military marked the occasion in traditional style.
In York, the Army fired a 21-gun salute at noon, in the Museum Gardens. Soldiers from the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, based in Thirsk, brought three of their 105mm light guns, equipped with blank rounds, to fire across the Ouse.
In London’s Green Park, soldiers from the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery used six First World War-era 13-pounder field guns to fire 41 shots. Leading the team was Lance Bombardier Grace Gostelow, who broke her neck and risked her life in 2016 stopping a runaway six-horse gun team from ploughing into spectators in Charlton Park.
She faced months of recovery and was sent to Headley Court in Epsom, Surrey, for rehabilitation.
“My job’s in the Army. I love the Army. I love the Troop and the horses – the horses are the biggest thing for me,” she said.
“To get back on board, it’s a milestone, to crack on and forget that it happened really.”
The annual display of British pageantry was completed by a 62-gun salute delivered by the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London.
There are 13 saluting stations across the UK and in Gibraltar, with York the only one in the North of England.
Yesterday’s ceremony also saw a parade by the Band of the Royal Armoured Corps, ending with the national anthem as the guns ceased firing.