ACTIVITIES AS QUEEN

The King and Queen continued to visit other Commonwealth nations and overseas countries. Between the coronation and the outbreak of war in September 1939 they made two important visits: in July 1938 to France, and May and June 1939 to Canada and the USA.

With the outbreak of war in 1939, there was some suggestion that the Queen and her daughters should evacuate to North America or Canada. To this the Queen made her famous reply: 'The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave.' Thus throughout the Second World War the Queen and her children shared the dangers and difficulties of the rest of the nation. She was in Buckingham Palace when it was bombed in September 1940. She and the King visited badly damaged areas throughout the country after the air-raids, and toured Britain visiting hospitals, factories and troops.

After the war, in 1947, they went on an extensive tour of South Africa.

In 1948 the King and Queen celebrated their Silver Wedding. Broadcasting to the nation, the King spoke movingly of the inspiration that he had received from his marriage. Sadly, his health prevented him carrying out further Commonwealth tours. The last major public occasion that he and the Queen attended together was the opening of the Festival of Britain in May 1951.

In autumn 1951, Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh took his place on a tour of Canada, and did so again the following January on a postponed visit to Australia and New Zealand. It was at the beginning of this trip that the King died peacefully, on 6 February 1952, at Sandringham House in Norfolk.