I read a facsimile edition of the DT today where they went into some detail about Her Maj flying back to UK from Kenya. Apart from 3 re-fuelling stops and flying at around 18,000 feet what was interesting was the military back-up.
A Lancaster bomber equipped with a life raft trailed her aircraft over both the Med and the Channel in case her plane had to ditch. The Navy also diverted ships to be in the area for search and rescue purposes.
They certainly wanted to play safe.
|
|
With good reason, they had just lost the king, so to loose the new queen would have been very bad planning, plus the wayward child Margaret would have been crowned Queen!
|
|
She may have brought a certain something to the job.
|
>> She may have brought a certain something to the job.
A hangover probably
|
>> A hangover probably
Not necessarily. Might easily have straightened up a bit if forced to be baked bean. Edward VII seemed to when he became king. And Princess Margaret was young and, one supposes, still relatively sober in 1952.
I was passing the gates of Kensington Palace many years ago and saw her and Anthony Armstrong-Jones driving out in a Rolls-Royce. They were both really small. Looked like a couple of well-dressed children who'd stolen the car.
|
>> Might easily have straightened up a bit if forced to be baked bean. Edward VII seemed to when he became king.
As one would expect the PoW to if he's still alive when the time comes. No more homeopathy or architectural opinions... constitutional monarchs have to play it straight.
|
>> I was passing the gates of Kensington Palace many years ago and saw her and
>> Anthony Armstrong-Jones driving out in a Rolls-Royce. They were both really small.
It was a big car ;-)
|
>>
>> Not necessarily. Might easily have straightened up a bit if forced to be baked bean.
>> Edward VII seemed to when he became king.
>>
>>
Edward VIII didn't. He just went from bad to worse.
|
>the wayward child Margaret would have been crowned Queen!
I would have thought that Charlie boy would have been crowned king!
|
|
How would that be? He was alive but not next in line to the throne?
|
>> How would that be? He was alive but not next in line to the throne?
Would Elizabeth not have become Queen immediately her father drew his last breath? Therefore, even if she had died on the way home from Africa the line of succession would have moved to Charles.
The King is dead, long live the King (or in this case Queen).
If she'd died on the way there, while George still lived, then Margaret would have been next in line.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 7 Feb 12 at 07:32
|
>>
>> If she'd died on the way there, while George still lived, then Margaret would have
>> been next in line.
>>
>>
>>
I don't think so. George III succeeded his grandfather George II, because his father was already predeceased.
|
>> >> How would that be? He was alive but not next in line to the
>> throne?
>>
>> Would Elizabeth not have become Queen immediately her father drew his last breath? Therefore, even
>> if she had died on the way home from Africa the line of succession would
>> have moved to Charles.
Yes I guess Charles Philip Arthur George age 4 would have been crowned King George VII. Hopw would we have taken to a 4 year old king I wonder?
|
>> Yes I guess Charles Philip Arthur George age 4 would have been crowned King George
>> VII. Hopw would we have taken to a 4 year old king I wonder?
>>
He would have had advisor's.
We have had child monarchs before.....
The youngest British monarch at the start her reign was Mary, Queen of Scots, who became queen aged just 6 days in 1542. The youngest king was Henry VI, who was 8 months and 25 days old at the time of his accession.
|
|
4 year old king, what difference would it make in the real world ? - None.
|
>> The youngest British monarch at the start her reign was Mary, Queen of Scots, who
>> became queen aged just 6 days in 1542.
She wasnt a real Queen, the clue is in the title.
The youngest king was Henry VI, who
>> was 8 months and 25 days old at the time of his accession.
He was declared insane.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 7 Feb 12 at 19:35
|
>> >> The youngest British monarch at the start her reign was Mary, Queen of Scots,
>> who
>> >> became queen aged just 6 days in 1542.
>>
>> She wasnt a real Queen, the clue is in the title.
>>
>>
>> The youngest king was Henry VI, who
>> >> was 8 months and 25 days old at the time of his accession.
>>
>> He was declared insane.
>>
So Scottish people cannot be Royalty?
Henry was declared insane, I agree.
Aged 32
Oh... and 'wasnt' should be 'wasn't'
;-)
|
>> So Scottish people cannot be Royalty?
>>
Unfortunately they can be prime ministers. :-(
|
>> Unfortunately they can be prime ministers
There have indeed been a few...
Harold Macmillan (PM, 1957-63) liked to claim that he was descended from crofters. However, he was educated at Eton and Oxford. Not born in Scotland
Alec Douglas-Home (PM, 1963-64) prided himself on being Scottish but, like Macmillan, he was educated at Eton and Oxford and many Scots were dismissive of his claim to be a Scot. Not born in Scotland
Tony Blair (PM, 1997-2007) is surely a Scot as he was born in Edinburgh though he doesn't talk about it. (Educated at Fettes and Oxford).
Gordon Brown is a Scot. He was educated at Kirkcaldy High School and the University of Edinburgh. This makes him the first Prime Minister since Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (PM, 1906-1908) to have attended a Scottish university.
Nobody has ever claimed that any of the other post-1945 PMs were Scottish, however several pre WW2 PMs were Scottish eg Ramsay Macdonald, Arthur Balfour and Henry Campbell-Bannerman ie they were all Scottish born
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Tue 7 Feb 12 at 20:30
|
|
I thought the current lot were a sort of German/Scots/Greek mix....
|
>> I thought the current lot were a sort of German/Scots/Greek mix....
Well its a recipe that produces deformed ears.
|
>>
>> Oh... and 'wasnt' should be 'wasn't'
>>
Oh... and 'advisor' should be 'adviser'
;-)
|
>> Really?
>>
>> I think both spellings are acceptable....
>>
>> oxforddictionaries.com/definition/adviser?q=advisor
>>
>> www.accountingweb.co.uk/anyanswers/adviser-or-advisor
>>
My better qualified colleagues are happy to be titled either Legal Adviser or Legal Advisor. They do get sniffy though if both versions are used in same document!
|
>> So Scottish people cannot be Royalty?
>>
It was before the union, so no they couldn't then
And they can't now because they are not in line of descent.
>> Henry was declared insane, I agree.
>> Aged 32
Mad kings are not good the age is not relevant
>>
>> Oh... and 'wasnt' should be 'wasn't'
You know what? I don't care.
|
|
It is very possible, although whether a Lancaster could keep up with what she flew back in is a question. I have looked at a photo of her arrival and I can tell that it isn't a Comet, by the shape of the windows, so probably a Britannia.
|
|
I would be surprised if the senior royals do not have discreet military backup at all times.
|
Many years ago, I flew on the same plane into Gib , as Sir Joshua Abraham Hassan, who was then, current Governor. We had an RAF escort, a couple of, then brand new, Tornados, one on each wing as we approached and landed at Gib.
Mind you the Spanish were acting up a lot then, so it was any excuse to antagonise them.
|
>> I would be surprised if the senior royals do not have discreet military backup at
>> all times.
>>
Won't be the yanks then!
|
What makes you think that anything is different today? Do they still provide a backup escort? We will probably never know until her plane actually goes down, and a only if a 'miraculous' rescue is made.
|
It t was a Canadian built (Canadair DC4M North Star) BOAC Argonaut, in this case "Atalanta".
( Info from Pprune)
www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1952/1952%20-%200425.html
|
|
Thank you Henry and Rob; your information as what it was is so much more helpful than mine as to what it wasn't!
|
|
For some reason I had it in my mind it was a Comet, but on checking it appears it didn't enter service until May 1952 - lucky really in a way or that life-raft may have been needed.
|
Yep, Argonaut or North Star. Canadair built version of Douglas DC4 with RR Merlin engines en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadair_North_Star.
Same type as crashed on Stockport in the sixties due fuel mismanagement and to which accident Ted of this parish attended as a copper(?)
|
Indeed, Bromps. Not a happy day. The bodyshop I use for bumps to the cars I look after is in Toll Bar Street, Hopes Carr. Almost at the spot where the pilot put it down.
On the fringe of another air disaster, a good friend of mine, living 5 houses up the road with his brother, was killed in the Tenerife disaster with his fiance. Both commemorated on the memorial in Manchester's Southern Cemetery.
A reminder every time I go.
Ted
|
My brother worked on aircraft of the Queen's Flight when he was in the RAF.
He told me the main difference was that everything that was touched or tinkered with was replaced with new.
On other aircraft, bits and pieces were refitted if they were judged to be still serviceable.
|
Military back-up to Queen's return Feb 1952 - Zero
