* YOU BEEN SNAP BLOG * SOMA MESSAGE THE QUEEN MOTHER SENT HER DAUGHTER AS SHE FLEW HOME FROM KENYA TO BECOME QUEEN "

*MKILETEWA HAPA NA MISS FB*


As she flew home to face her destiny on Wednesday, February 6, 1952, the new Queen Elizabeth must have felt the weight of the world upon her shoulders.

Sitting at home, mourning her beloved husband, George VI, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s only thought was to comfort her daughter.

So she instructed her staff to send a short telegram to be relayed to her on board the BOAC Argonaut jet (the predecessor to British Airways) which was flying her back from East Africa where she was a week into a gruelling Commonwealth tour.

 

A copy of the telegram received on board a BOAC aircraft to the Queen from the Queen Mother in 1952;

The message was received over the radio and written directly into the Captain’s log-book before being copied out by hand onto a BOAC signal form and presented to Her Majesty.



Remarkably, a copy of that form still survives at the British Airways Speedbird Heritage Centre today.

The message, which captures the formality of her daughter’s new role with a mother’s love, reads simply:

To: Her Majesty The Queen

All my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Mummie

Buckingham Palace

To mark the anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne, British Airways has also released a copy of the original flight path plan, which is topped with the image of a crown.

Her Majesty the Queen returns to the UK on February 7, 1952;

Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, political leaders and other high officers of State were there to meet the flight;

It notes that Her Royal Highness, Princess Elizabeth was on board on January 31 and yet the aircraft that returned was carrying the new Queen.

Captain Ronald Ballantine flew the 2,270 miles from Entebbe to El Adem in Libya and, after a brief 58 minutes refuel on the ground there, Captain Michael Parker finished the 1,860 miles to London.

Images show the Queen’s flight touching down at London Airport at 4.30pm precisely on February 7, 1952.

Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, political leaders and other high officers of State were there to meet the flight.

King George VI with Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, at Windsor Castle July 8, 1946;

Her Royal Highness, Princess Elizabeth was on board a British Airways flight on January 31 and yet the aircraft that returned was carrying the new Queen;