THE KING IS DEAD, QUEEN FLYING HOME
Valet makes shock discovery as he enters bedroom in sandringham ++ philip breaks news to elizabeth in Kenya ++ churchill to meet her at airport today
Queen elizabeth and the Duke of edinburgh were flying home early this morning following the tragically sudden death of King George Vi. they are expected to reach london airport at 4.30pm today after flying the 4,127 miles from entebbe, uganda, in 20 hours.
at london airport the Queen will be met by the Duke of Gloucester, Mr Churchill, lord Woolton, Mr eden, the Marquess of Salisbury, Mr attlee, leader of the Opposition, and Mr Clement Davies, leader of the liberals.
news of the King’s death was broken to the Queen yesterday by the Duke after it had been confirmed in a call to Sandringham. She wept, then, quickly recovering, decided to fly home immediately. a member of her household said: ‘She stood it bravely — like a Queen.’
the Queen and the Duke had spent the night at
She spoke happily of her father at breakfast
treetops, the hotel in a tree in aberdare national Park, Kenya. She talked about her father a great deal during breakfast, telling a member of her party how well her father had looked lately.
the Queen will take up her duties as Sovereign as soon as she arrives in london today. at 11am tomorrow, after 115 years, a new Queen — Queen elizabeth ii — will be proclaimed from the balcony of St James’s Palace and at Charing Cross, temple bar and the Royal exchange.
Flags flying at half-mast will be hauled to their mastheads when the words ‘God Save the Queen’ are uttered. at 9pm tonight, Mr Churchill will broadcast for 15 minutes.
the King died in his sleep at Sandringham, norfolk at about 4am. he was 56. he will be brought on Sunday to liverpool Street Station, london, where the coffin will be placed on a gun carriage and taken through troop-lined streets to Westminster hall where he will lie in state.
the King’s Company of the First battalion Grenadier Guards, stationed at Windsor, has received orders to stand by to go to Sandringham and act as escort and bearer party for the whole of the journey from there to Windsor.