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The Queen's Platinum Jubilee: What is Accession Day?

03:05

The Queen's Platinum Jubilee: What is Accession Day?

On February 6, 1952, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was proclaimed ‘Queen Elizabeth’ at the age of just 25.

Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were on the first stop of a commonwealth tour in Kenya when her father, King George VI, passed away in his sleep.

Accession Day is as much a day of mourning as celebration for the Queen, who is reported to spend the day in “quiet, sombre reflection” at Sandringham ahead of this summer’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which will culminate in a four-day Bank Holiday weekend in June.

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