HRH Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, in front of the microphone for her 21st birthday speech, April 21, 1947, which she made from Cape Town, South Africa.
A balcony scene at Buckingham Palace, with the Duke of Edinburgh, after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
A sapphire reign: Celebrating The Queen’s reign – the longest of any monarch 65 years of progress
The Queen meets well-wishers in London on the occasion of her silver Jubilee in 1977.
T ECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY have featured heavily in The Queen’s itineraries over the years, re ecting the UK’s strengths and reputation in manufacturing and cutting-edge technology. During The Queen’s 65-year reign – the longest of any monarch – she has witnessed huge changes and seen the world develop at a fair clip – always keeping her nger on the pulse. It is no coincidence, then, that the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise continue to be awarded to the nest leaders in British industry and to continue to instil great pride among the awards’ recipients, further spreading the word about British trade. In 1952, when Princess Elizabeth of York
million people watched it but, with only 2.7 million television sets, more than seven people watched per set. The rest of the 1950s saw the retirement of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister for his second stint, the end of the BBC broadcast monopoly with the introduction of ITV and the opening of Britain’s rst nuclear power station – by HM The Queen. She became the rst monarch to broadcast a Christmas message on television in 1957, further recognising the positive power of mass communication and the impact of technology. The 1960s brought great change and, in the Commonwealth, South Africa’s membership lapsed. Fashion and music featured heavily in the decade and The Beatles were presented
succeed her father, George VI, to become Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon, the war was still in the collective consciousness. George VI had ushered in the decade with the Festival of Britain, a bid to instil post-war optimism in new solutions and innovation. Later, Watson and Crick described the structure of DNA, which makes up the genes that pass hereditary characteristics from parent to child, and heralded many scienti c breakthroughs thereafter. In 1953 the Coronation itself caused a stir across the UK as television was not available nationally and, naturally, many wanted to see the spectacle in all its glory. It was reported 20
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