Evening star., 1953-05-26
From LiIibet to Queen
EIizobeth's Regal Training
Begun by Stern Grandmother

WS -
destined to be Britain's fifth
reigning queen.
Saw Her Father Crowned.
The princesses were given an
explanation of how their uncle
was going away for long time,
perhaps forever. Lilibet was not
to see her Uncle David until she
was a poised, grown up girl.
| She has never lost her affec-
! ton for him. Now as queen, she
has eased the way for the return
of the Duke of Windsor to the
| good graces of the royal family'S s
court. On his rare visits to Eng
land he usually calls at Buck
ingham Palace. But the Duke
and his wife. Wally. will not be
at the coronation next Tuesday
It would be against constitu-
tional usage for a sovereign or
former sovereign of any state
to attend the coronation of q
king or queen of England. he
has explained.
Elizabeth was only 10 at the
abdication.
Already the shadows of World
War II were shortening. It was
the year that Hitler reoccupied
the Rhineland, Mussolini tri-
umphantly annexed Ethiopia
and the Spanish civil war
dragged.
The coronation of Elizabeth's S
father as George vi saw her
and her sister Margaret taking
a full part in purple robes and
coronets. Lilibet, who had be-
come a darling of the British
people, behaved with amazing
dignity during the long cere-
mony in Westminster Abbey
and even took it upon herself
to see that Margaret behaved
too.
Educated by Tutors.
The education of Lilibet went
on under private tutors with q
new sense of direction now. Sil
Henry Marten, vice provost OF
Eton, the chief tutor, reported
his royal protege was systematic
rather than brilliant, but con
siderate, responsive, ready to be
interested or amused
Elizabeth is perhaps the first
British sovereign to study Amer
lean history. OF course there
was emphasis on constitutional
history and the empire, the
French and German languages
literature, art and dancing.
She learned to play the piano
well enough to tackle Beethoven
Chopin and Schumann COM
petently. She enjoyed American
popular music, particularly the
records of Bing Crosby and the
Andrews sisters.
She read may of the novels OF
Somerset Vaughan, Conan
Doyle, P. G. Wodehouse and
Ernest Hemingway.
She liked games and learned
to swim and shoot.
World War II brought impor-
tant changes in the life of the
princess, and in the empire. She
was 13 when the war broke out
old enough to get a lasting
impression of the bombings and
hurried scamperings to a bomb
shelter.
Broadcast at Age IA.
Many British families sent
their children to the United
States or Canada to escape the
blitz. There were suggestions the
royal family do likewise. Their
mother would not hear of it,
explaining emphatically:
"They could not go without
me, and I would not go without
the king"
But the princesses were evac-
uated to Birkhall, near Balmoral
Castle in Scotland, and then to
Windsor Castle where the dan
ger from bombs was not so great.
Elizabeth's growing respon-
sibility was manifested before
her 14th birthday in a broadcast
to the children of the dominions
and the empire.
II can truthfully say to you
that we children at home are full
of cheerfulness and courage. We
are trying to do all we can to
help our sailors, soldiers and air.
men, and we are trying to bear
our share of the danger and sad
ness of war;" she said.
Elizabeth joined the Girl
Guides (Scouts) at Windsor and
had difficulty passing q test for
her first-class badge. She ex-
planned to guides captain that,