Jun 3, 2025
1952 Shaw Savill Line ad by totallymystified
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1952 Shaw Savill Line ad by totallymystified
The Royal Tour to Australia was to have taken place in 1949, but due to the poor health of His Majesty King George V, the trip was postponed. In August 1950 the Private Secretary to His Majesty King George VI advised Australian authorities that the King, Queen Elizabeth and their younger daughter Princess Margaret would tour Australia in early 1952. It was to be a more limited and less demanding tour, to Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya, due to the state of the King's health. As his health declined, however, it was decided that Princess Elizabeth and her husband of five years, Prince Philip, would undertake the tour instead. But on February 6, 1952, while the royal couple was still in Kenya, news came that Elizabeth’s father had died. The remainder of the tour was cancelled, and the new Queen of England and her husband returned home. It would be another two years before they finally made it to Australia.
The SS Gothic (1947-1969) served as the Royal Yacht from 1952-1954.
The Illustrated London News, 9th February, 1952. by totallymystified on Flickr.
The Illustrated London News, 9th February, 1952. This was a special edition celebrating the forthcoming tour by Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. The first stop was Nairobi (by air). They were due to board the SS Gothic at Mombasa, but news reached the princess of her father, King George VI's death. She returned to Britain and the tour was cancelled.