Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her Proclamation as Queen, in London, 1952.Getty
On the Proclamation Day of Queen Elizabeth, this incredible footage was released by the newsreel specialists British Pathé. It is quite stunning.
British Pathé is the leading collector and purveyor of vintage film footage from the United Kingdom over the decades. This clip (below) features the Proclamation Day of Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary II. In the clip, a man can be seen reading the Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II at St James' Palace with the Duke of Norfolk.
Winston Churchill appears and can be seen greeting Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh as they climb from a plane at London Airport.
This was a momentous occasion in the history of the Royal Family, and the footage displays that. Following the death of King George VI, Proclamations were made in different Commonwealth realms on 6, 7, 8, and 11 February (depending on geographic location and time zone). The line of succession was identical in all the Commonwealth realms, but the royal title as proclaimed was not the same in all of them.
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The Proclamation read as follows:
"Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God to call to His Mercy our late Sovereign Lord King George the Sixth of Blessed and Glorious memory, by whose Decease the Crown is solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary:
We, therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm, being here assisted with these His late Majesty's Privy Council, with representatives of other Members of the Commonwealth, with other Principal Gentlemen of Quality, with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of London, do now hereby with one voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart publish and proclaim that the High and Mighty Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is now, by the death of our late Sovereign of happy memory, become Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of this Realm and of all Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, to whom Her lieges do acknowledge all Faith and constant Obedience with hearty and humble Affection, beseeching God by whom Kings and Queens do reign, to bless the Royal Princess Elizabeth the Second with long and happy Years to reign over us.
Given at St. James's Palace this Sixth Day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-two."
God save the Queen