Proclamation of accession of Queen Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II was proclaimed queen throughout the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
after her father, King George VI, died in the early hours of 6 February 1952, while Elizabeth was in Kenya. Proclamations were made in different
Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...
s 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. Accession was followed sixteen months later by the Coronation of Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London on 2 June 1953.


United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the
Accession Council In the United Kingdom, the Accession Council is a ceremonial body which assembles in St James's Palace in London upon the death of a monarch to make formal proclamation of the accession of the successor to the throne. Under the terms of the Ac ...
met twice at
St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...
: first at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 6 February, before the Queen had returned from Kenya, to make their proclamation declaring the accession of the new sovereign, as the late king's successor in accordance with the line of succession to the British throne, and, second, at a meeting begun at 10 a.m. on Friday, 8 February, when the Queen was present, to receive her oath for the security of the Church of Scotland and her personal declaration that she would always work to uphold constitutional government and to advance the happiness and prosperity of her peoples all the world over. Her declaration for securing the Protestant succession, as required by the 1689 Bill of Rights and the Accession Declaration Act 1910, was made later, at the next state opening of parliament, on 4 November. After the Accession Council had completed the formalities for their proclamation on 6 February, it had been issued for publication in a supplement to that day's ''
London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
'': The accession proclamation was published in '' The Times'' on 7 February, quoting the ''London Gazette''. According to the ''Times'', it was expected that the public proclamation would be made in due form by the heralds of the College of Arms. The practice had been to read it first from the
Friary Court Friary Court is a part of St James's Palace in London, England. It is used after the death of a reigning monarch. The Accession Council meets to declare the new monarch from the deceased monarch's line. Once the monarch has made a sacred oath to ...
balcony at St James's Palace and, in the City of London, the custom had been to lay it before the Court of Aldermen and to read it, after a ceremony at Temple Bar, London, at the corner of Chancery Lane, in
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
, and at the Royal Exchange. After the meeting with the Queen at St James's Palace in the morning of 8 February, the accession proclamation was read to the public by the
Garter King of Arms The Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ...
, Sir
George Bellew Sir George Rothe Bellew, (13 December 1899 – 6 February 1993), styled The Honourable after 1935, was a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. Educated at the University of Oxford, he was appointed Portcullis Pursuivant in 1922. ...
, first at 11 a.m. from the Friary Court balcony, then in Trafalgar Square, in
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...
, and at the Royal Exchange.


Other Commonwealth realms

Each of the Commonwealth realms issued similar proclamations of the accession of the Queen.


Australia

The
Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Sir William McKell, issued the proclamation of Elizabeth's accession as Queen of Australia on Thursday, 7 February. It was read from the steps of
Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...
. Similar proclamations were issued on Friday, 8 February in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.


Canada

The Queen's Privy Council for Canada issued the first proclamation of the Queen's accession, doing so on Wednesday, 6 February. It was read at Rideau Hall, in both French and English.


Ceylon

In
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, the Queen was proclaimed separately as the Queen of Ceylon through a proclamation signed by the
Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
and the members of the Cabinet. On the morning of February 8, 1952, this proclamation was read from the steps of
Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...
, Colombo in three principal languages of Ceylon: English,
Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...
and
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...
, to the large crowds outside. A gun-salute was also fired. The bands played '' God Save The Queen'' and '' Namo Namo Matha''.


New Zealand

The
Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...
, Sir
Bernard Freyberg Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the 7th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. Freyb ...
, proclaimed the Queen's accession in New Zealand on Monday, 11 February, attended by the Chief Justice, Sir Humphrey O'Leary, Deputy Prime Minister Keith Holyoake, and members of the Executive Council, who took the oath of allegiance after the ceremony. The proclamation was signed by the Governor-General, the members of the Executive Council and others.


Pakistan

In Pakistan, the proclamation on 8 February was surrounded by some of the old splendours of the former Imperial times. A salute of 21 guns was also fired. The proclamation, which was signed by the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan, was shorter than those issued in other Commonwealth realms, simply stating, "The Governor-General proclaims that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second is now become Queen of Her Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth."


South Africa

The Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, Ernest George Jansen, proclaimed the Queen's accession in Cape Town on Thursday, 7 February, in English and in Afrikaans.


Crown colonies

In Bermuda, Governor Alexander Hood read the proclamation of the Queen's accession from a small dais near the steps of the Public Buildings on 8 February. The ceremony, witnessed by a crowd of several thousand people, concluded by playing of the National Anthem, and then a 21-gun salute at
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
harbour. When the salute was over, the Governor called for "three cheers for Her Majesty the Queen", waving his helmet in his right hand. In Singapore, the proclamation was made by the Governor at a ceremony attended by thousands on the Padang on 9 February 1952. After the announcement of George VI's death had been formally communicated to the Legislative Board of Turks and Caicos Islands (at that time a dependency of Jamaica, itself then a
Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
), a proclamation was issued and published there on Friday, 8 February. Similar proclamations were issued in Southern Rhodesia, on 8 February in Barbados, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands,
Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
, Kenya, Mauritius, Saint Vincent, Seychelles, and Trinidad and Tobago, and on 9 February in Hong Kong, and Sarawak.


Royal title

The proclamation in the United Kingdom marked the first inclusion, by an Accession Council, of the title '' Head of the Commonwealth'', and the first reference to "representatives of other Members of the Commonwealth" as among those proclaiming. Also, the Crown, which had been referred to as the ''Imperial Crown of Great Britain and Ireland'', was also now non-specific, and Elizabeth's title was not her official one. These last two points reflected the existence of the Republic of Ireland (Ireland would not be officially removed from the Queen's title until the year following), as well as the sovereignty of countries over which Elizabeth was now separately queen. However, the Canadian proclamation, necessarily separate due to the country's legal independence from the UK, continued to refer to the new sovereign as Queen of Ireland, and the Crown she inherited as being that of "Great Britain, Ireland and all other His late Majesty's dominions." Elizabeth was also proclaimed Queen of Ireland in South Africa. Changes of the royal style and title in any realm do not as such change the constitutional status or position of the monarch or the Crown.Noel Cox ''The Development of a Separate Crown in New Zealand

which considers also the positions of Australia and Canada; and see Noel Cox LLM (Hons), PhD, Lecturer, Auckland University of Technology, in Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law Volume 9, Number 3 (September 2002): ''Black v Chrétien: Suing a Minister of the Crown for Abuse of Power, Misfeasance in Public Office and Negligence'' (Ontario Court of Appeal

/ref>


See also

* Executive Council (Commonwealth countries) *
Privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
*
Royal Style and Titles Act In the Commonwealth realms, a Royal Style and Titles Act or a Royal Titles Act is an Act of Parliament passed in the relevant jurisdiction which defines the sovereign's formal title in that jurisdiction. The most significant of these acts is the Ro ...
* Proclamation of accession of Charles III (2022)


References


External links


Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed at the Royal Exchange, 6 February 1952
* Accession Council's first meeting and proclamation * Queen's declaration made in the council of 8 February 1952 * Ceremonial observed at the proclamation in London * Ceremonial observed at the proclamation at Mercat Cross, Edinburgh {{Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, state=collapsed * British monarchy Monarchy in Canada Monarchy in Australia Monarchy in New Zealand Elizabeth II Proclamations February 1952 events February 1952 events in the United Kingdom 1952 in the United Kingdom 1952 in Canada 1952 in Australia 1952 in New Zealand 1952 in South Africa 1952 in Pakistan 1952 in Ceylon 1952 in the British Empire